Bordon v. Division of Employment Security

199 S.W.3d 206, 2006 Mo. App. LEXIS 1262, 2006 WL 2471620
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 24, 2006
DocketNo. WD 66239
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 199 S.W.3d 206 (Bordon v. Division of Employment Security) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bordon v. Division of Employment Security, 199 S.W.3d 206, 2006 Mo. App. LEXIS 1262, 2006 WL 2471620 (Mo. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

JOSEPH M. ELLIS, Judge.

Kelly Bordon appeals from an order issued by the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission denying her application for unemployment benefits pursuant to § 288.0501 based upon a finding that she had left her employment with Beverly Health & Rehabilitation voluntarily and without good cause attributable to her work or her employer. For the following reasons, we reverse the Commission’s decision.

Appellant was hired to work the day shift as a certified medical technician (CMT)/certified nurses’ assistant (CNA) at the Beverly Health & Rehabilitation nursing home on September 30, 2003. She primarily performed work as a CMT, filling in as a CNA as needed, and had a set schedule in which she worked Sunday through Thursday and would have Friday and Saturday off. When she initially accepted the job, Appellant had negotiated and been given those days off as a condition of her employment.

[208]*208On March 16, 2005, Appellant went on approved maternity leave pursuant to § 288.050.1(l)(d) and the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Prior to her going on maternity leave, Beverly Health & Rehabilitation expressly guaranteed Appellant that her position would still be there when she was able to return to work.

On May 3, 2005, after she was released by her doctor to return to work, Appellant called her employer and stated that she was ready to return to work. Appellant was told to bring her release in the following day. When she arrived at the nursing home, the staffing coordinator informed Appellant that Appellant’s position as the CMT on the day shift had been filled. The staffing coordinator asked Appellant whether she would accept a part-time position as a CNA at her same pay rate. Appellant stated that she would accept such a position if she continued to be guaranteed to have Fridays and Saturdays off, indicating that her daycare provider received dialysis on Fridays. The staffing coordinator informed Appellant that she could only guarantee days off for CMTs, not for CNAs, and that Appellant would have to work Fridays and Saturdays. Appellant informed the staffing coordinator that she could not work those days. The staffing coordinator told Appellant that she would look into whether those days off could be arranged. Subsequently, the staffing coordinator and Appellant unsuccessfully tried to reach each other to further discuss scheduling.

On May 10, 2005, Appellant filed an application for unemployment benefits with the Division of Employment Security. Shortly thereafter, Beverly Health & Rehabilitation filed a letter of protest to Appellant’s claim. On May 27, 2005, a deputy with the Division of Employment Security issued a determination granting Appellant’s claim for benefits under § 288.050. The deputy found that Appellant’s separation from employment was not the result of misconduct connected with work and that her separation from employment occurred because no work was available when Appellant returned from her leave of absence.

Beverly Health & Rehabilitation timely appealed from the deputy’s determination to the Appeals Board. A hearing was conducted on Appellant’s claim on July 6, 2005. On July 11, 2005, the Appeals Tribunal issued its decision reversing the deputy’s determination and denying benefits to Appellant. Although finding that Appellant’s testimony was more credible than that of the employer’s witnesses, the Appeals Tribunal concluded:

The claimant was offered comparable work by the employer, but declined to work because of the employer’s scheduling needs. Although the claimant had worked the same schedule during her employment with the employer, the scheduling needs of the employer were subject to change. It is an employer’s prerogative to schedule its employees. The claimant’s failure, therefore, to accept the offered work by the employer does not constitute good cause for voluntarily leaving work. Therefore, the Appeals Tribunal concludes that the claimant voluntarily left her work with the employer on May 4, 2005, without good cause attributable to the work or to the employer.

Appellant appealed to the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission. On November 8, 2005, the Commission affirmed the decision of the Appeals Tribunal, with one member dissenting, and adopted that decision as its own. Appellant, acting pro se, brings two points on [209]*209appeal.2

This Court’s review of a decision entered by the Commission is governed by Section 288.210, Hoover v. Community Blood Ctr., 153 S.W.3d 9, 12 (Mo.App.W.D.2005), which provides, in relevant part:

The findings of the commission as to the facts, if supported by competent and substantial evidence and in the absence of fraud, shall be conclusive, and the jurisdiction of the appellate court shall be confined to questions of law. The court, on appeal, may modify, reverse, remand for rehearing, or set aside the decision of the commission on the following grounds and no other:
(1) That the commission acted without or in excess of its powers;
(2) That the decision was procured by fraud;
(3) That the facts found by the commission do not support the award; [or]
(4) That there was no sufficient competent evidence in the record to warrant the making of the award.

“‘[WJhether the award is supported by competent and substantial evidence is judged by examining the evidence in the context of the whole record.’ ” Dolgencorp, Inc. v. Zatorski, 134 S.W.3d 813, 817 (Mo.App.W.D.2004) (quoting Hampton v. Big Boy Steel Erection, 121 S.W.3d 220, 223 (Mo. banc 2003)). “ ‘An award that is contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence is, in context, not supported by competent and substantial evidence.’ ” Id. (quoting Hampton, 121 S.W.3d at 223).

“In considering the whole record, this court defers to the Commission’s determination as to the credibility of witnesses.” Id. On the other hand, “on appeal, we are ‘not bound by the Commission’s conclusions of law or the Commission’s application of law to the facts.’” Hoover, 153 S.W.3d at 12 (quoting McClelland v. Hogan Pers., LLC, 116 S.W.3d 660, 664 (Mo.App.W.D.2003)).

Appellant brings two points on appeal. In her first point, she contends that the Commission erred in finding that she voluntarily left her employment without good cause related to her work because the Commission specifically found her testimony credible. In point II, Appellant claims that the findings made by the Commission do not support the award denying her benefits and that there was insufficient competent evidence in the record to support that decision. She contends that the evidence demonstrated that she was not offered equivalent employment when she returned from maternity leave as required by law and, therefore, had good cause attributable to her employer to terminate her employment. Since we find Point II dispositive and requires reversal, we need not decide Point I.

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199 S.W.3d 206, 2006 Mo. App. LEXIS 1262, 2006 WL 2471620, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bordon-v-division-of-employment-security-moctapp-2006.