Christianson v. Geo. A. Hormel & Co.

404 N.W.2d 334, 1987 Minn. App. LEXIS 4265
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedApril 21, 1987
DocketC2-86-1969
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 404 N.W.2d 334 (Christianson v. Geo. A. Hormel & Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Christianson v. Geo. A. Hormel & Co., 404 N.W.2d 334, 1987 Minn. App. LEXIS 4265 (Mich. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinions

OPINION

LESLIE, Judge.

Relator Merlin Christianson seeks review of a determination that his actions during a strike constituted misconduct disqualifying him from the receipt of unemployment compensation. We reverse.

FACTS

Relator Merlin Christianson began working as a production worker for respondent Geo. A. Hormel & Company (“Hormel”) in September 1982. He was a member of a labor union which called a strike against Hormel and organized a picket line effective August 16, 1985. Christianson participated in the strike and picket line activity.

On the morning of December 20, 1985 Christianson was on the picket line when management and other non-participants in the strike were reporting for work. Hor[336]*336mel, anticipating violence at the strike site, had employees of its in-plant photo lab there videotaping the activity. The camera man was within the fences of Hormel, pointing the camera and some bright lights outward at the picketers. Christianson began making comments about the camera man and other individuals such as:

Workers run this town — p**s on you— freeze to death — I’ll remember your a**. I want you to remember my a**.
We’re going to get the camera guy today.
Could be your worst f***cking nightmare, buddy.
Want him to remember my a**.
Little pr**k.
Stick a jack up his a**.
Stick a camera up his a**.
We’ve got your face, buddy. Remember mine. It’s going to be a f***ing nightmare.
Take a look at that face, Dave — I’ll remember your head.

Most of the comments were directed at other picketers, and none appeared to be direct threats at any Hormel management or employee. There were between 5 and 10 picketers at the site that morning and none of them were found to have committed any violence. It was a cold winter morning and the picketers spent their time pacing to keep warm.

On January 20, 1986 several striking employees engaged in acts of violence which damaged some property. A person whose car was damaged that day signed an affidavit stating it was Christianson who caused the damage. Hormel discharged Christian-son from his job for strike-related activity, effective January 23, 1986. Hormel’s personnel manager testified that Christianson was fired for his actions on both December 20 and January 20.

Christianson filed a claim for unemployment compensation, and a claims deputy from the Department of Jobs and Training granted him benefits, determining that he had been involuntarily separated from his employment for reasons other than misconduct. Hormel appealed, and a hearing was held before a Department referee.

At the hearing, Hormel introduced a videotape of the strike activity on December 20 and January 20, and a one page transcript outlining the taped events. The transcript stated that Christianson struck a vehicle. However, the videotape did not show anyone striking a vehicle. Hormel explained that the relevant portion of the tape had been inadvertently edited out. No other evidence was introduced which would establish that Christianson committed any violence. Ultimately, neither the referee nor the Commissioner found that Christian-son struck any vehicles.

Hormel attempted to prove that Chris-tianson had been involved in the January 20 incident. The witness whose car had been damaged that day testified that he signed an affidavit identifying Christianson as the person who caused the damage. However, the witness stated he didn’t know who Christianson was, did not prepare the affidavit, and was “shook up”, “mad”, and “really didn’t give a damn what [he] signed” that day. No one at the hearing could specifically identify Christianson as being present at Hormel on January 20.

Christianson testified and presented the testimony of his wife and a neighbor that he was not at Hormel on the morning of January 20. The referee found, and the Commissioner agreed that Christianson was not on the picket line on January 20.

The referee reversed the claims deputy’s allowance of benefits, reasoning that Chris-tianson’s language exhibited hostility towards management personnel and employees who were exempt from union membership; and that the conduct exhibited a disloyalty to the, employer which could not be excused as an inherent effect of picketing. The referee made no finding that Christian-son struck any vehicles or committed any acts of violence.

On appeal, a Commissioner’s representative affirmed, and adopted the referee’s findings in full. The Commissioner also reasoned in an accompanying memorandum that Christianson’s conduct could easily have incited or encouraged other persons on the picket line to likewise make threat[337]*337ening remarks against the employer, and such conduct could easily have led to physical violence and property destruction. Although neither the referee nor the Commissioner made any findings that Christianson or other picketers committed acts of violence, the Commissioner’s memorandum did note that “[t]here is evidence in the record that on December 20, 1985, vehicles were hit by persons on the picket line at the employer’s place of business”.

ISSUE

Did Christianson’s actions on December 20 constitute misconduct sufficient to disqualify him from the receipt of unemployment compensation benefits?

ANALYSIS

In reviewing a Commissioner’s determination, our scope of review is limited to determining whether that determination is reasonably supported by the record. White v. Metropolitan Medical Center, 332 N.W.2d 25, 26 (Minn.1983). Generally, for unemployment compensation purposes, an employee who is on strike is not deemed to have quit his employment; rather, the employer-employee relationship continues. Ayers v. Nichols, 244 Minn. 375, 380, 70 N.W.2d 296, 299 (1955). During the course of the strike, the employee is disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits, but if, upon the conclusion of the strike, the employee is not reemployed, he is entitled to receive unemployment compensation benefits unless for some reason he is disqualified from receiving those benefits. See Ayers, 244 Minn. at 380-81, 70 N.W.2d at 299; Minn.Stat. § 268.09, subd. 3 (1986).

As in other situations, where strike-related conduct is involved, the employer has the burden of proving that the employee’s actions constituted misconduct disqualifying him from the receipt of unemployment compensation. Johnson v. Ford Motor Co., 289 Minn. 388, 394, 184 N.W.2d 786, 790 (1971). For Christianson to be disqualified from receipt of unemployment compensation, his actions must fall within the definition of “misconduct”:

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Related

Broyles v. Aeroquip Corp.
438 N.W.2d 888 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1989)
Christianson v. Geo. A. Hormel & Co.
404 N.W.2d 334 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1987)

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Bluebook (online)
404 N.W.2d 334, 1987 Minn. App. LEXIS 4265, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/christianson-v-geo-a-hormel-co-minnctapp-1987.