Cheatem v. Review Board of the Indiana Department of Employment & Training Services

553 N.E.2d 888, 1990 Ind. App. LEXIS 574, 1990 WL 61391
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 9, 1990
DocketNo. 93A02-8910-EX-520
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 553 N.E.2d 888 (Cheatem v. Review Board of the Indiana Department of Employment & Training Services) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cheatem v. Review Board of the Indiana Department of Employment & Training Services, 553 N.E.2d 888, 1990 Ind. App. LEXIS 574, 1990 WL 61391 (Ind. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

CHEZEM, Presiding Judge.

Case Summary

Claimant/Appellant, Tammy J. Cheatem, appeals from the Indiana Department of Employment and Training Services Review Board’s determination that Cheatem voluntarily left employment without good cause. We reverse and remand.

Issue

Whether the Review Board erred when it determined that Cheatem had voluntarily left employment without good cause within the meaning of Ind.Code 22-4-15-1.

Facts

Tammy J. Cheatem (Cheatem) was employed at St. Vincent Depaul Store (Store) as a sorter. Her duties included sorting through clothes the employer received and discarding those which were damaged or soiled.

At approximately 3:00 p.m. on April 26, 1989, August Hirsch, store assistant manager, summoned Cheatem into the store manager’s office. Myrna Fortner (Fort-ner), the store manager, informed Cheatem that she was being placed on a three (3) day suspension because she improperly threw away good clothing. Cheatem replied, “No, you might as well fire me.” [890]*890Cheatem departed the office, clocked out, and left the Store.

After Cheatem arrived home, she telephoned Robert VanBuren, (VanBuren) the store committeeman who processes grievances, to request a hearing on the suspension. On April 28, 1989, VanBuren informed Cheatem that since she was at fault, her request for a hearing was denied.

On May 1, 1989, Cheatem reported for work. At 9:30 a.m., Fortner confronted Cheatem and informed her that she was no longer employed.

Cheatem applied for unemployment benefits. The deputy denied Cheatem benefits and determined Cheatem “left employment without good cause in connection with the work when she left the building without permission after the employer gave her a three (3) day suspension.”

On May 30, 1989, Cheatem appealed the deputy’s determination. The appeal referee, after a hearing on June 21, 1989, reversed the deputy’s decision and determined that Cheatem’s employment ended due to poor communication. Store appealed to the Review Board on July 7, 1989. The Review Board, in its August 16, 1989 decision, reversed the referee and held that Cheatem had voluntarily left employment without good cause. The Review Board’s findings of fact and conclusions of law are as follows:

FINDINGS OF FACT:
a) Claimant began work for this Employer in 1985 and worked on a full-time basis as a “sorter.” Claimant was earning $4.26/hour as of her last day of work.
b) Claimant was called into her supervisor’s office at about 3 p.m. on April 26, 1989, for disciplinary reasons. The supervisor had informed Claimant that she was throwing “good clothing away,” and would be given a 3-day suspension. Claimant did not give the Supervisor an opportunity to finish but angrily stalked out of the meeting with the parting remark: “No, you might as well fire me!” Then Claimant clocked out and left the premises, without permission, about IV2 hours before her shift ended.
c) Later that day, but without informing her supervisor, Claimant telephoned the store committee chairman (a sort of grievance committee) and asked him to process a grievance and establish a hearing for her. Claimant acknowledges that the committee chairman called her back and informed her that the Claimant was at fault as she had walked off her job and that there would be no hearing on the matter.
d) On May 1, 1989, Claimant reported to her work station without informing her supervisor that she was there. At about 9:30 a.m. the supervisor learned that Claimant was on the premises and she informed Claimant that the Employer considered Claimant as having voluntarily quit her job by her actions of April 26, 1989; and, that Claimant no longer had a job with Employer.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW:
1) The Employer bears the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence to show that there was just cause within the meaning of the Act in any discharge situation; however, in a voluntary quit situation then the Claimant bears the burden.
2) It is uncontroverted that Claimant was being disciplined by her supervisor on April 26, 1989, at approximately 3 p.m. During the disciplinary session, Claimant did not allow her supervisor to finish detailing the discipline that was being meted out. Claimant departed the supervisor's office with the comment “No, you might as well fire me.” She then clocked out and departed the premises approximately one and a half-hours before her shift was to end without permission.
3) Claimant’s contention that she did not quit but was fired by her supervisor after she returned to work on May 1, 1989, has no merit. One, she did not inform her supervisor that her departure on April 26, 1989, was not a quit; and, secondly, her actions spoke louder than her words.
4) Claimant voluntarily quit her employment for personal reasons: She became [891]*891angry for the discipline that was being meted out by her supervisor. She indicated her state of mind with her parting comment. She clocked out during work hours and left the premises without permission. These acts constitute a voluntary quit of her employment.
5) Claimant has failed to meet her burden to show either that she was in fact terminated by her Employer or that she quit her employment for just cause connected with her work within the meaning of the Act.

(Board’s emphasis).

Having exhausted her administrative remedies, Cheatem appeals.

Discussion and Decision

Under the Indiana Employment Security Act, a person is not eligible for unemployment benefits “who has voluntarily left his employment without good cause in connection with the work or who was discharged from his employment for just cause.” Ind.Code 22-4-15-l(a). The determination whether an employee was fired or voluntarily quit is a question of fact to be determined by the Review Board. Jones v. Review Board (1982), Ind.App., 442 N.E.2d 1120, 1122.

On review we must determine whether the decision of the Review Board is reasonable in light of its findings. Shortridge v. Review Bd. of Employment Sec. (1986), Ind.App., 498 N.E.2d 82, 87. “As a general rule, as to all questions of fact, the decision of the Review Board is conclusive and binding. The Court of Appeals is limited to examination of evidence and reasonable inferences drawn therefrom which would support the Board’s decision. The court must accept the facts as found by the Review Board unless its findings fall within one of the exceptions for which the court may reverse.” Id. (citations omitted) Those exceptions include:

(1) The evidence on which the Review Board based its finding 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;

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553 N.E.2d 888, 1990 Ind. App. LEXIS 574, 1990 WL 61391, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cheatem-v-review-board-of-the-indiana-department-of-employment-training-indctapp-1990.