Davis v. REVIEW BD. IND. DEPT. WORKFORCE

900 N.E.2d 488
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 5, 2009
Docket93A02-0806-EX-564
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 900 N.E.2d 488 (Davis v. REVIEW BD. IND. DEPT. WORKFORCE) 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
Davis v. REVIEW BD. IND. DEPT. WORKFORCE, 900 N.E.2d 488 (Ind. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

900 N.E.2d 488 (2009)

Michael T. DAVIS, Appellant-Defendant,
v.
REVIEW BOARD OF the INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT and Parkview Health System, Inc., Appellee-Plaintiff.

No. 93A02-0806-EX-564.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

February 5, 2009.

*489 Timothy J. Vrana, Timothy J. Vrana LLC, Columbus, IN, Attorney for Appellant.

Gregory F. Zoeller, Attorney General of Indiana, Elizabeth Rogers, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.

*490 OPINION

FRIEDLANDER, Judge.

Michael T. Davis appeals the decision of the Unemployment Insurance Review Board of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (the Review Board) denying him unemployment benefits. Davis presents the following restated issue for review: Is the Review Board's finding that Davis voluntarily left his employment with Parkview Health System, Inc. (Parkview) without good cause contrary to the law and the evidence?

We affirm.

Davis was employed by Parkview from April 30, 2006 to January 7, 2008, when he chose to resign due to a proposed change in his employment. Specifically, because of ongoing poor performance as a supervisor, Parkview sought to demote Davis from a housekeeping supervisor to a housekeeping assistant. Rather than accept the new working conditions, Davis voluntarily terminated his employment. Davis then sought unemployment compensation benefits.

On February 12, 2008, a deputy of the Department of Workforce Development denied Davis's claim for unemployment compensation. Davis appealed the deputy's decision and obtained a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). Following the hearing, the ALJ affirmed the deputy's decision on May 5, 2008. In its written decision the ALJ issued the following findings and conclusions, which were adopted by the Review Board on June 2, 2008:

FINDINGS OF FACT: The claimant began employment April 30, 2006 and his last work day was January 7, 2008. He worked as a housekeeping supervisor who was paid $15.72 per hour.
The ALJ finds that one of the claimant's job duties was to schedule. The ALJ finds there were problems with the manner with which the claimant scheduled. Copies of warnings acknowledged by the claimant were offered and made part of the record.... These warnings were dated April 13, 2007, July 20, 2007, August 8, 2007, and November 14, 2007. The November 14, 2007 was a final warning. In one incident, the claimant assumed that a co-worker of an employee would share the change of schedule. The claimant was admonished that he was the supervisor and was responsible to share any changes with employees.
On December 3, 2007, another scheduling problem occurred. The ALJ finds the parties met on January 7, 2008. A determination was made that the claimant could transfer to Parkview North to assist with the grand opening. However, the claimant would be working as housekeeping assistant. He would no longer have supervisory duties. Although the rate of pay was not specifically noted, the ALJ finds the range for an assistant was from $8.11 to $12.17 per hour.[[1]]
The claimant was upset and gave notice and left employment.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW: In Jones v. Review Board of Indiana Employment Security Division (1980), Ind.App., 399 N.E.2d 844, the court stated:
*491 "Generally, an employer has the prerogative of setting business hours, working schedules and working conditions in the absence of a specific agreement. However, an employee has the right to place conditions or limitation on his employment. If such conditions are made know [sic] to the employer and are agreed to by it, these conditions become contractual working conditions. If the working conditions are unilaterally changed by the employer and the employee chooses to terminate the employment rather than accept the change, the employee will be entitled to unemployment benefits since the reason for termination was a change in work agreed to be performed by the employee. Such reasons constitute good cause. Wade v. Hurley (1973), 33 Colo.App. 30, 515 P.2d 491; Gray v. Dobbs House, Inc. (1976), Ind.App., 171 Ind.App. 444, 357 N.E.2d 900 (concurring opinion). Likewise, if an employee is discharged for refusal to accept a unilateral change in the agreed upon working conditions, the employee would be entitled to benefits as the discharge would not be for just cause as it is defined in IC XX-X-XX-X. However, if the employee chooses to remain in the employment under the changed conditions, the prior agreed upon condition will be deemed to have been abandoned and will no longer be considered part of the working conditions." (Footnote omitted.).
The issue was whether the change in the employment agreement was so egregious that it would cause a reasonable prudent person to quit employment. The ALJ concludes the claimant had issues with scheduling employees. Scheduling is one of the main job duties of a supervisor. He must ensure, particularly in a hospital, that areas are maintained by housekeeping staff. In one instance, he expected one employee to share the schedule with another employee. The claimant was delegating one of his job duties. It was not the responsibility for any employee to pass that type of information to another because the employee does not have authority to change another employee's schedule. The ALJ concludes the employer properly warned the claimant about his work performance. The claimant reached the last step on November 14, 2007. There was a subsequent incident on December 3, three weeks after the final warning which prompted the discussion on January 7, 2008. An employee could have been discharged, but the employer chose to give the claimant an opportunity to continue employment. The ALJ concludes that the employer's actions were more than reasonable in lieu [sic] of the claimant's work performance. The claimant failed to establish that the employer's decision was so egregious that it would cause a reasonable prudent person to quit employment. The claimant therefore failed to carry his burden of proof. He voluntarily left employment without good cause in connection with the work. He is ineligible for benefits under the Act.

Appellant's Appendix at 4-5 (footnote supplied).

On appeal, Davis claims he was improperly denied unemployment compensation benefits. Davis contends he had good cause for terminating his employment because Parkview unilaterally changed his working conditions by taking away his supervisory duties and reducing his pay by somewhere between 23% and 48%.

*492 We have recently sent forth the standard of review applicable in this context:

"The Indiana Unemployment Compensation Act provides that any decision of the review board shall be conclusive and binding as to all questions of fact. Ind.Code § 22-4-17-12(a).

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