Reetz v. Lutheran Health Systems

• Citation: 611 N.W.2d 230,2000 SD 74
• Decision Date: 07 June 2000
• Docket Number: No. 21099.,21099.
• Parties: In the Matter of Arlene REETZ, Employee and Appellee, v. LUTHERAN HEALTH SYSTEMS, Employer and Appellant.
• Court: South Dakota Supreme Court

611 N.W.2d 230

2000 SD 74

In the Matter of Arlene REETZ, Employee and Appellee, v. LUTHERAN HEALTH SYSTEMS, Employer and Appellant.

No. 21099.

Supreme Court of South Dakota.

Considered on Briefs January 10, 2000.

Decided June 7, 2000.

Lynn A. Moran, Custer, for employee and appellee.

Donald A. Porter, and Patricia A. Meyers of Costello, Porter, Hill, Heisterkamp, Bushnell & Carpenter, Rapid City, for employer and appellant.

Drew C. Johnson, Aberdeen, for Department of Labor.

AMUNDSON, Justice

[¶ 1.] Lutheran Health Systems appeals a circuit court order affirming a decision by the South Dakota Department of Labor awarding Arlene Reetz unemployment insurance benefits. We reverse.

FACTS

[¶ 2.] Reetz is a registered nurse and was a long time employee of Colonial Manor Nursing Home in Custer. Colonial Manor is affiliated with Lutheran Health Systems and the Black Hills Healthcare Network. By all accounts Reetz was a good and valued employee, having worked for Colonial Manor for approximately twenty-five years. Although she held various positions with the home over the years, Reetz was serving as a Medicare care plan coordinator at the time she left her employment.

[¶ 3.] On March 15, 1998, Reetz met with Nursing Service Administrator Jean Witt. Witt advised Reetz that, because of some company restructuring, her job would be eliminated as of April 1. Witt also gave Reetz job applications for several comparable positions that would be available at the home and told Reetz she could apply for them. Reetz did complete one application, however, before turning it in, she discovered a print copy of some e-mail correspondence among some papers she picked up in the office.¹ The e-mail was between the home's administrator and its human resource officer and was apparently written with reference to a letter the administrator intended to issue to employees whose jobs were about to be eliminated, including Reetz.² The administrator's e-mail inquiry stated:

Hi,

This is a sample of the letter to Arlie [Reetz], Denise and Kathy A. What needs to be revised.

I am in Rapid all day, so will look at it tonite [sic.] Have a good one.

The human resource officer responded:

From: Kathy Evans To: DHOLM Date: 3/17/98 8:11am Subject: Suck-up letter -Reply

I don't know if I would keep the last sentence in it. How important is it really? Will she take that as a guarantee of a position? Can she use this against you should she not be chosen for a position and want to go to grievance? If she did get a postion [sic.], would she take this statement to heart (head) too much and feel that you can't run the place without her?

Just asking!! Have you ever mentioned to Roger the question of severance for her or anyone else?

Has Jean Fish given an answer of acceptance of her new position? I would ask them to accept in writing as a matter of record for their file so we have a full understanding by everyone.

I just want to help you cover your butt so that we know that everything is kosher over there and never give them that loop hole.

See ya.

[¶ 4.] Reetz was seriously offended by the tenor of the e-mail and believed it indicated an intention by her superiors not to hire her for the positions she was told were available. When asked during the administrative hearing about the reasons for leaving her employment, Reetz testified:

I did find this letter that was, ah, a very damaging letter I thought, and it was insulting. It was, I called it the suck up letter, hum, anyway, it's, hum, presented in our information. I think it was document no. 6, and, hum, I just didn't feel that, I just didn't feel that this was proper.

At a later point in the hearing, when asked why she didn't apply for any available jobs, Reetz answered: "Well, because I found that suck-up letter and I just, hum, did not feel I, I just didn't feel that I could do it. I thought that letter that they were trying to get rid of me, and that they had no intentions of offering me a job."

[¶ 5.] After her discovery of the e-mail, Reetz decided not to apply for any of the positions available at the home. On March 19 she wrote a letter to the administrator charging that the elimination of her position was an attempt to get rid of her because of her seniority and higher pay. Noting that the home's rules entitled her to thirty days notice of termination and that she had not been provided with that notice, Reetz finished her letter by requesting severance pay and indicating her intention to follow grievance procedures if she was unsatisfied with her "termination." The administrator responded in writing that same day. She expressed disappointment over Reetz's failure to apply for any available positions and advised that those positions had closed as of ten o'clock that day. The administrator also notified Reetz that her position would not be terminated until May 1 which fulfilled the thirty day notice of termination requirement. The administrator's letter concluded: "Arlie, you have been a very dedicated employee of Colonial Manor for the past 25 years. Your knowledge and experience will be missed. I am sorry you have chosen not to apply for one of the open positions."

[¶ 6.] On or about April 15, 1998, the human resources officer for the Black Hills Healthcare Network sent the following letter to Reetz:

Dear Arlie;

This afternoon I called you to discuss your request for severance pay and your employment status with Black Hills Healthcare Network. As we agreed. I am providing you with this written confirmation of our conversation.

Based on the fact that three positions were available and you were encouraged to apply for them at the time of the restructuring, we cannot offer you severance pay.

Deb Holm [i.e., the administrator] and Jean Witt want to retain you as an employee. Consequently, we are offering you the Nurse Educator position without requiring you to complete the standard application process. The position would be four days/32 hours a week. Jean Witt has agreed to let you choose your scheduled work days; for instance, Monday through Thursday or Tuesday through Friday. You would receive your current rate of pay, however, due to the compensation range for this position, you would be above the maximum pay rate. This would mean you would not receive increases to your rate of pay unless the range changed significantly. You would still be eligible for lump sum payments based on performance.

I will be coming to visit with you at Colonial Manor on Wednesday, April 22 at 2:00 p.m., as we discussed today. At that time, you can let me know what you have decided.

You have been a very dedicated employee, Arlie. Your experience and knowledge makes you the best internal choice for the Nurse Educator position. It is my sincere hope that you accept this position. If you have any questions, please call me ... I will look forward to visiting with you again on April 22. (emphasis added).

[¶ 7.] Both the human resources officer and Reetz's immediate supervisor met with Reetz on April 22 and Reetz rejected the foregoing offer of employment. Her last day of work was on April 30, 1998. She subsequently filed a claim for unemployment insurance benefits that was denied on the basis that she voluntarily left her employment without good cause. An administrative appeal followed and a department of labor hearings officer conducted a hearing in August 1998. The hearings officer later entered findings of fact, conclusions of law and an order reversing the denial of benefits on the basis that Reetz did not quit without good cause and was not discharged for misconduct. Lutheran Health Systems appealed the department's decision to the circuit court which adopted the hearing officer's findings and conclusions and affirmed the allowance of benefits. Lutheran Health now appeals to this Court.

ISSUE

[¶ 8.] Did the circuit court err in affirming the Department of Labor's award of unemployment insurance benefits to Reetz?

[¶ 9.] The unemployment insurance law disqualifies individuals from receiving benefits if they: voluntarily quit employment without good cause; are discharged for work connected misconduct; or fail, without good cause, to accept suitable work when offered. See SDCL 61-6-13; SDCL 61-6-14; 61-6-15. Lutheran Health argues that Reetz quit without good cause or failed to accept suitable work when offered and, therefore, the circuit court erred in affirming the department's decision to award her benefits.

We review administrative decisions in the same manner as the circuit court. Factual findings can be overturned only if we find them to be "clearly erroneous" after considering all the evidence. Unless we are left with a definite and firm conviction a mistake has been made, the findings must stand. The question is not whether there is substantial evidence contrary to the findings, but whether there is substantial evidence to support them. Conclusions of law are fully reviewable, as are mixed questions of fact and law that require the application of a legal standard.

Abild v. Gateway 2000, Inc., 1996 SD 50, ¶ 6, 547 N.W.2d 556, 558-59 (citations omitted).

[¶ 10.] Neither of Lutheran Health's arguments are predicated on an entirely accurate assessment of the nature of Reetz's separation from her employment. This Court has not previously addressed a case where a person was notified of his impending discharge, was offered a different position by the same employer and then refused the offer of continued employment. Thus, it has never resolved whether this constitutes voluntarily quitting employment or refusing to accept suitable work when offered. Other courts have, however, addressed this issue. In Department of Educ. v. Atwater, 417 So.2d 749 (Fla. Dist.Ct.App.1982), the claimant was aware her part-time job would soon be terminated and refused the employer's offer of other suitable work. Because the work offer was extended while the claimant was still on the employer's payroll, the administrative...