Taylor v. Burley Care Center

• Decision Date: 21 November 1991
• Docket Number: No. 18355,18355
• Citation: 121 Idaho 792,828 P.2d 821
• Parties: Helen L. TAYLOR, SSA 518 58 3858, Claimant-appellant, v. BURLEY CARE CENTER, Employer, and State of Idaho, Department of Employment, Respondents. Twin Falls, Nov. 1990 Term
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court

Page 821

828 P.2d 821

121 Idaho 792

Helen L. TAYLOR, SSA 518 58 3858, Claimant-appellant, v. BURLEY CARE CENTER, Employer, and State of Idaho, Department of Employment, Respondents.

No. 18355.

Supreme Court of Idaho,

Twin Falls, Nov. 1990 Term.

Nov. 21, 1991.

Rehearing Dismissed Jan. 23, 1992.

Helen L. Taylor, Burley, pro se.

Lojek & Gabbert, Chartered, Boise, for respondent Burley Care Center. Donald W. Lojek argued.

Jim Jones, Atty. Gen., John C. Hummel, Deputy Atty. Gen., Boise, for respondent Dept. of Employment. John C. Hummel argued.

BAKES, Chief Justice.

Helen Taylor was fired from her employment with Burley Care Center. Her claim for unemployment benefits was denied on the ground that she was terminated for misconduct. She appealed, and after a hearing, the Department of Employment appeals examiner denied her claims for unemployment benefits. This decision was appealed to the Industrial Commission, which granted Taylor's request and remanded the matter for another hearing with the Department of Employment. Additional evidence was presented and received, following which the Department of Employment again denied benefits. On appeal from this re-examination, the Industrial Commission adopted the decision of the Department hearing examiner, with minor factual modifications. Taylor appealed the Industrial Commission's decision and order to this Court.

The issue presented by this appeal is whether there is substantial competent evidence to support the Industrial Commission's finding that Taylor was discharged for misconduct. I.C. § 72-1366(e) provides that a claimant may not receive unemployment benefits if "[s]he was discharged for misconduct in connection with h[er] employment." Whether or not an action is "misconduct" is a question of fact to be determined by the Industrial Commission. Spruell v. Allied Meadows Corp., 117 Idaho 277, 787 P.2d 263 (1990); Booth v. City of Burley, 99 Idaho 229, 580 P.2d 75 (1978).

In its decision and order, the Industrial Commission found that there was misconduct. The Commission adopted with minor modifications the findings of the appeals examiner who found the following.

Taylor worked as a charge nurse for Burley Care Center from September 17, 1984, until March 8, 1988. Taylor was supervised by the director of nursing who became dissatisfied with her work performance and attitude. A meeting was held on March 4, 1988, in which the dissatisfactions were discussed and Taylor was given a written warning. At that meeting, Taylor agreed to submit a written plan of correction by March 8, 1988. A meeting between Taylor and her supervisor was scheduled for March 8, 1988.

On March 8, 1988, Taylor arrived for the meeting accompanied by her sister, who was a nurse at a competitor facility. The supervisor explained it would not be appropriate to discuss the patients and their treatment in front of an outsider. The supervisor was willing to discuss Taylor's concerns with Taylor herself, review the documents, and reschedule a meeting with Taylor.

The supervisor and Taylor went to the administrator's office to discuss the situation. The administrator offered to schedule a meeting when she was available to sit down with Taylor and her supervisor to review the dispute. Taylor refused to attend any meeting without her sister present. The administrator reiterated that because of confidentiality, it was inappropriate to have an outsider at the meeting, especially one from a competitor business. Taylor argued that it was her right to have anyone with her, including her son, if she so desired. When Taylor again refused to discuss the situation with her supervisor and/or the administrator without her sister present, she was terminated.

The test for determining misconduct is first, whether the employee's conduct fell below the standard of behavior expected by the employer; and second, whether the employer's expectation was objectively reasonable in the particular case. Matthews v. Bucyrus-Erie Co., 101 Idaho 657, 619 P.2d 1110 (1980). Based on evidence and the above test, the Commission adopted the appeals examiner's finding that:

While the claimant may have had concerns about meeting with her supervisor alone, she had an obligation to discuss the matter with her supervisor or the administrator prior to the time of the scheduled meeting to make other arrangements. The claimant had the right to meet privately with the administrator but didn't avail herself of that right. The supervisor's concerns about protecting patients' confidentiality was real. Trying to have a meaningful discussion without discussing specifics of a patient would have been cumbersome if not impossible. The claimant did not act in good faith in trying to arrange for a witness who was acceptable to both parties. The requirement was on her to do so prior to the start of the meeting or to request rescheduling of the meeting. The claimant has not established that the administrator would have been an unreliable witness or that her distrust of going into the meeting without her sister was reasonable. The employer's expectation that the claimant meet with the supervisor and/or administrator to discuss the problems was reasonable. The claimant's refusal to do so constitutes misconduct in connection with the employment.

This Court's review of unemployment compensation cases involving factual disputes is restricted to determining whether the findings of fact by the Industrial Commission are supported by substantial and competent evidence in the record. Idaho Constitution, art. 5 § 9; I.C. § 72-732; Spruell v. Allied Meadows Corp., supra. We find that the Industrial Commission's determination is supported by substantial competent evidence. The order of the Industrial Commission denying unemployment insurance benefits is affirmed.

JOHNSON, BOYLE and McDEVITT, JJ., concur.

BISTLINE, Justice, dissenting.

Helen Taylor, a registered nurse who had been employed by Burley Care Center since September 17, 1984, was discharged from said employment on March 8, 1988. The examiner for the Department of Employment denied Taylor's claim for unemployment benefits based upon the examiner's conclusion that Taylor had been terminated for misconduct. On her pro se appeal and after a hearing before a Department of Employment appeals examiner Taylor was again denied any benefits. On her further pro se appeal to the Industrial Commission all that she obtained was another hearing in the Department of Employment. Additional evidence was presented and received, following which the Department of Employment again denied all benefits. On her appeal from that determination, the Industrial Commission simply adopted the decision of the Department of Employment with minor factual modifications. The Industrial Commission's final decision and order left her with one option--an appeal to this Court. This Court is in the process of affirming the Commission by means of a succinct and quickly read opinion. The first part of the body of the Court's opinion purports to advise the reader of the findings of the appeals examiner, which the Commission adopted. The findings, which the majority opinion paraphrases, consist of four consecutive paragraphs. ¹ Then follows the second part of the body of the opinion, wherein the majority, based on three Idaho cases which are not discussed, states the majority's test for determining misconduct and sets out the Commission's disposition, which is now reviewed. It is an unjust determination, and it is not soundly premised.

The issue presented by this appeal is whether Helen Taylor's polite insistence on the presence of an impartial third party during a meeting with her supervisors is capable of being termed misconduct as referred to in I.C. § 72-1366(e). That statute provides that a claimant may not receive unemployment benefits if "[s]he was discharged for misconduct in connection with h[er] employment." Thus, we are not concerned with the right of an employer to terminate an employee, but solely with the more narrow issue as to whether this termination can be grounded upon misconduct.

As above stated, Taylor worked for the Burley Care Center as a nurse for four years of regular employment without criticism. A few days before she was terminated, she received a written warning from Arlene Jones, her immediate supervisor. The Burley Care Center requires an employee to respond to warnings by preparing and submitting a "plan of correction," which details how the employee will improve her performance. Taylor did not prepare a plan of correction, because she believed that the written warning contained false accusations. Taylor requested from Jones whatever documentation supported the accusations made against Taylor in the written warning. Taylor's sister, Carmen Adams, was present. Adams is also a nurse, and is familiar with patient documents, records, and hospital procedures. Prior to the meeting, Taylor had called the Department of Employment because of a fear that she was being set-up for termination by her immediate supervisor through the fabrication of undocumented accusations. She had been advised to bring a witness with her to the meeting.

Jones denied Taylor's request that Adams be present at the meeting. Jones based the denial on confidentiality of patient's records. Taylor responded that patient confidentiality would not have to be implicated by the presence of Adams; she suggested that patients could be referred to by number instead of by name. This offer was refused. Jones and Taylor together sought out Jody Craig Trujillo, the administrator and next in line up the chain of supervision. Trujillo suggested that she, Jones and Taylor meet and discuss the problem. Taylor again expressed her request that her sister, Carmen Adams, be present at the meeting. For that transgression, Taylor was immediately terminated notwithstanding almost four years with Burley Care Center.

Her application for unemployment...