General Motors Corp. v. Review Bd. of Indiana Dept. of Workforce Development

• Decision Date: 18 October 1996
• Docket Number: No. 93A02-9603-EX-181,93A02-9603-EX-181
• Parties: GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, Appellant-Respondent, v. REVIEW BOARD OF the INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, Mable Martin-Scott, George H. Baker, and Mark T. Robbins as Members of and as constituting the Review Board of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development and Derick R. Franklin, Appellees-Claimant.
• Court: Indiana Appellate Court

Page 493

671 N.E.2d 493

GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, Appellant-Respondent, v. REVIEW BOARD OF the INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF WORKFORCE

DEVELOPMENT, Mable Martin-Scott, George H. Baker, and Mark

T. Robbins as Members of and as constituting the Review

Board of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development and

Derick R. Franklin, Appellees-Claimant.

No. 93A02-9603-EX-181.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

Oct. 18, 1996.

Linda L. Pence, Jane Ann Himsel, Johnson Smith Pence Densborn Wright & Heath, Indianapolis, for Appellant-Respondent.

OPINION

KIRSCH, Judge.

The Allison Transmission Division of General Motors Corporation (GM) appeals the decision of the Review Board of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (Review Board) determining that Derick R. Franklin (Franklin), a former GM employee, was not discharged for just cause and was eligible for unemployment benefits. Because we find it dispositive, we address only the following issue: Whether there was substantial evidence to support the Review Board's decision that GM discharged Franklin without just cause.

We reverse.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Franklin was hired as a salaried employee of GM located in Indianapolis on September 29, 1975, and was assigned to work in the copy center. During Franklin's employment, GM instituted a drug and alcohol abuse policy (drug policy). The drug policy was published twice a year and posted throughout the GM plant in several locations including public traveled aisles, entrances and exits to the plant, and bulletin boards.

In 1993, GM employees alerted the corporation's management to possible drug and alcohol problems among some of its employees. In order to ascertain whether the drug and alcohol problems existed, GM began an undercover drug investigation in November 1993, which lasted for approximately fourteen months. GM hired the Asset Corporation (which conducts investigations into public as well as private workforces to detect different types of improper activity) to run the investigation, and Asset placed two undercover agents to pose as GM employees. As part of the investigation, the Asset agents provided GM with detailed, written reports describing drug-related activity.

The reports of one agent indicated that Franklin, on numerous occasions, sold and distributed illegal drugs. According to the reports, Franklin sold marijuana to the undercover agent on two occasions, supplied the agent with marijuana on one occasion, and supplied the agent with Darvocet and Valium (prescription drugs) on several other occasions. As a result of the drug investigation and the agent's reports, Franklin and fifteen other GM employees were arrested in April 1995. GM discharged all of the employees, including Franklin, for violating the corporation's drug policy.

After his termination, Franklin filed a claim for unemployment insurance benefits. A deputy of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development denied his claim. Franklin filed a timely Notice to Appeal the denial of benefits and requested a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (referee). After conducting the hearing, the referee reversed the initial determination denying Franklin's benefits and found that Franklin was discharged without just cause and was entitled to benefits.

GM filed a Request for Appeal to the Review Board. The Review Board affirmed the referee's decision and adopted his findings of fact and conclusions of law which state in pertinent part:

"CONCLUSIONS OF LAW: .... In the present case, the claimant was discharged by the employer for violating the employer's written drug and alcohol abuse policy. This policy is published twice a year and posted in the employer's facilities. The only circumstance of drug trafficking at the employer's facility was that which gave rise to the investigation, and resulting discharge of the claimant. All employees of the employer implicated by the investigation were discharged by the employer. However, the employer has had other cases involving the use/possession of illegal drugs. With regard to violations of the employer's written drug and alcohol abuse policy, the decision to discipline offending employees, and the nature of the discipline to be imposed for such violations, is discretionary with the employer's management. The employer does have a progressive disciplinary policy; however, the use of this policy depends upon the situation involved, taking into consideration the disciplinary record of any employee found to be in violation of the policy. Therefore, the Administrative Law Judge cannot find the employer's drug and alcohol abuse policy Record at 94-95.

to be reasonable and uniformly enforced. As such, the employer has failed to sustain its burden of proof, and has failed to establish a prima facie showing of just cause for the discharge."

STANDARD OF REVIEW

When reviewing the Review Board's decision, this court accepts the factual findings as conclusive and binding. Parkison v. James River Corp., 659 N.E.2d 690, 692 (Ind.Ct.App.1996). We then determine whether the Review Board's decision is supported by substantial evidence of probative value. Id. In so doing, we neither reweigh the evidence nor reassess witness credibility, and we consider only the evidence most favorable to the Review Board's decision. Id.

We must accept the facts as found by the Review Board unless its findings fall within one of the exceptions for which this court may reverse. Best Lock Corp. v. Review Bd., 572 N.E.2d 520, 522 (Ind.Ct.App.1991). The exceptions are as follows:

"(1) The evidence on which the Review Board based its findings was devoid of probative value;

(2) The quantum of legitimate evidence was so proportionately meager as to lead to the conviction that the finding does not rest upon a rational basis;

(3) The result of the hearing before the Review Board was substantially influenced by improper considerations;

(4) There was not substantial evidence supporting the findings of the Review Board;

(5) The order of the Review Board, its judgment or finding, is fraudulent, unreasonable or arbitrary."

Blackwell v. Review Bd., 560 N.E.2d 674, 677 (Ind.Ct.App.1990). We will reverse the decision only if there is no substantial evidence to support the findings or if a reasonable person, considering only the evidence supporting those findings, would be bound to reach a different result. KBI, Inc. v. Review Bd., 656 N.E.2d 842, 846 (Ind.Ct.App.1995).

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

The Review Board found that GM's drug policy was not reasonable and uniformly enforced. On appeal, GM argues that there was no substantial evidence supporting the Review Board's conclusion and that a reasonable person would be compelled to reach the opposite conclusion. We agree.

Unemployment compensation may be denied to employees who are discharged for just cause. IC 22-4-15-1(d). Discharge for just cause includes a knowing violation of a reasonable and uniformly enforced rule of an employer. KBI, 656 N.E.2d at 847. It is the employer's burden to prove it had a uniformly enforced work rule and that the claimant knowingly violated the rule. Id. In determining here whether Franklin was discharged for just cause, we must determine whether there was substantial evidence to support the Review Board's conclusion that GM's drug policy was not reasonable and uniformly enforced.

GM's written drug policy which was introduced into evidence at the hearing before the referee states in its entirety that:

" General Motors and Allison Transmission are committed to providing you with an alcohol and drug-free work environment. We abide by all federal legislation and regulations requiring a drug-free workplace and are committed to providing a safe work environment free from the effects of alcohol and drug abuse for all our employees.

The Corporation recognizes employee involvement with alcohol and drugs, on or off the job, has the potential to impact the workplace. Under the provisions of the Employee Assistance Program, employees who voluntarily request assistance in dealing with personal substance problems may do so without jeopardizing their continued employment. However, as in the past, participation in the Employee Assistance Program will not prevent disciplinary action for violation of this policy or the shop rules.

The illegal use, sale, possession, distribution, manufacture or dispensation of narcotics, drugs, or controlled substances while on the job or in the workplace is a dischargeable offense.

Employees who are under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, or who possess or consume alcohol or other drugs on the job, have the potential for interfering with their own, as well as their co-workers', safe and efficient job performance. Consistent with existing policies and shop rules, such behavior will be proper cause for disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment.

Allison Transmission's continuing dedication to customer satisfaction in the increasingly competitive worldwide marketplace in which we operate requires that we maintain a drug-free work environment."

Record at 68 (emphases added).

A work rule is reasonable if it protects the interests of the employees as well as those of the employer. Russell v. Review Bd., 586 N.E.2d 942, 949 (Ind.Ct.App.1992). Under GM's drug policy, the first paragraph states the policy's purpose. GM representative Tom Lacey testified at the hearing and reiterated that the purpose behind the drug policy was to provide employees with a safe workplace and ensure efficient job performance. GM had an interest in efficiently running its plant, and GM's drug policy effectively promoted this legitimate goal. Clearly, a private employer has the right to invoke a policy that insures that its workers are drug and alcohol free while on...