Gilbreath v. MISSISSIPPI EMPLOY. SEC. COM'N

910 So. 2d 682, 2005 WL 527506
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMarch 8, 2005
Docket2003-CC-00859-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 910 So. 2d 682 (Gilbreath v. MISSISSIPPI EMPLOY. SEC. COM'N) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gilbreath v. MISSISSIPPI EMPLOY. SEC. COM'N, 910 So. 2d 682, 2005 WL 527506 (Mich. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

910 So.2d 682 (2005)

Jerry M. GILBREATH, Appellant,
v.
MISSISSIPPI EMPLOYMENT SECURITY COMMISSION and Julie S. Carlisle, Appellees.

No. 2003-CC-00859-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

March 8, 2005.

*684 Jerry M. Gilbreath, Appellant, pro se.

Julie S. Carlisle, Appellee, pro se.

Before BRIDGES, P.J., MYERS and BARNES, JJ.

BARNES, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. This is an appeal by the employer, Jerry M. Gilbreath, of a decision of the Circuit Court of Jones County, Mississippi reversing the Mississippi Employment Security Commission (MESC) Board of Review's denial of unemployment compensation to his former employee, Julie S. Carlisle, and finding Carlisle entitled to unemployment benefits. We find that the MESC order disqualifying Carlisle from receiving unemployment benefits was not based on substantial evidence and was, therefore, arbitrary and capricious. Therefore, we affirm the order of the circuit court reversing the decision of the MESC Board of Review. Rather than deciding Carlisle's entitlement to benefits; however, the circuit court, as a court of appeal, should have remanded this cause to the MESC for further proceedings. Consequently, we affirm the decision of the circuit court in part, reverse in part, and remand to the MESC for further proceedings.

STATEMENT OF FACTS, COURSE OF PROCEEDINGS AND DISPOSITION BELOW

¶ 2. Julie S. Carlisle was employed by attorney Jerry Gilbreath as a secretary for over nine years. Carlisle's employment came to an end on May 17, 2002; there is a dispute between the parties as to the circumstances which led to Carlisle's separation from employment. Carlisle contends that she was terminated by Gilbreath, while Gilbreath counters that Carlisle voluntarily quit.

¶ 3. An employment interviewer with the Mississippi Employment Security Commission took statements from both Gilbreath and Carlisle. Gilbreath reported that Carlisle quit "because she was going to relocate to [A]labama with her brother." Carlisle "denie[d] quitting to relocate to [A]labama with her brother, and stated she had never discussed anything like that with [Gilbreath.]." Instead, Carlisle stated that Gilbreath discharged her for no reason, although she intimated that he was emotionally unstable due to a recent stroke. Based upon these interviews, the claims examiner determined that Carlisle had quit her job which disqualified her from receiving unemployment benefits.

¶ 4. Carlisle appealed this decision of the claims examiner and was granted a hearing before an appeals referee on July 9, 2002. Gilbreath did not attend the hearing. Carlisle testified unequivocally that she did not quit her job. She testified that an emotional Gilbreath called her into his office at five o'clock on Friday afternoon and informed her "it's time we part our ways." The only reason he gave was that the cash flow was not there, which Carlisle confirmed was due to Gilbreath's inability to work following a stroke the previous December. Although Carlisle indicated she would like to add a "few comments" to the record, the referee stated, "If you didn't quit your job, I don't need any other information." The appeals referee subsequently found that Carlisle was terminated from her job and entitled to unemployment benefits.

¶ 5. Gilbreath immediately requested a rehearing, claiming that due to his ill health and his paralegal's being on vacation the week of the July 1-5, the mail was not picked up until Tuesday, July 9th, approximately an hour and a half after the hearing began. Despite Carlisle's argument *685 that it was not her fault that Gilbreath did not pick up his mail on Monday, July 8,[1] the Board of Review remanded the cause to the appeals referee for the employer's testimony and any additional testimony from the claimant.

¶ 6. After several rescheduling notices, the hearing was held on September 12, 2002. Only Gilbreath and his two witnesses were present at the hearing. Gilbreath testified that Carlisle voluntarily terminated her employment; his version of the reasons for her quitting was, however, somewhat different from the account he originally reported to the employment interviewer. At the hearing, Gilbreath testified that Carlisle told him that she was going to Gulf Shores, Alabama to be with her brother the first week in June to celebrate her birthday and was getting married on July 27. Gilbreath further testified that he requested Carlisle not to leave him "high and dry," and, while she originally agreed to work for two additional weeks, she later changed her mind and never returned to work.

¶ 7. Gilbreath also offered into evidence a tape recording left by Carlisle on the answering machine of Marilyn Johnson, Gilbreath's paralegal, on the morning of May 17 in which Carlisle stated that she "can't take anymore" and was "most likely going to quit today." Johnson authenticated the tape recording and testified that although Carlisle had previously mentioned quitting, she had never followed through. Lampkin Butts, an attorney who apparently shared office space with Gilbreath, testified that Carlisle told him on May 16 that she was going to quit "because they'd had a fuss or something." He also confirmed that Carlisle had talked about quitting on previous occasions.

¶ 8. The entire file relative to Carlisle's claim was returned to the Board of Review which, on October 25, 2002, found that Carlisle voluntarily left her employment with Gilbreath "indicating that the reason for her leaving was to relocate to another locality." The Board of Review, therefore, reversed the decision of the appeals referee and found Carlisle disqualified for benefits. Carlisle was sent a notice of overpayment in which she was requested to make immediate restitution of the unemployment benefits she had been paid.

¶ 9. Carlisle moved to set the decision of the Board of Review aside, claiming that she was never notified of the hearing scheduled for September 12, 2002, and also filed a notice of appeal. Apparently in response to the circuit court's request for her assignment of error, Carlisle filed a document more fully outlining her version of events and annotating various documents in the file with her comments or concerns. Among the matters Carlisle called to the circuit court's attention was lack of support for the Board of Review's finding that she had left her employment "to relocate to another locality."[2]

¶ 10. By order entered March 6, 2003, the Circuit Court of Jones County, Mississippi, reversed the decision of the MESC Board of Review, finding the decision "not supported by the evidence," and reinstated Carlisle's unemployment benefits. The court determined that Carlisle "was discharged on or about May 17, 2002 and ... the testimony and evidence before the Mississippi *686 Employment Security Commission taken on Tuesday July 9, 2002 indicates and shows that the Claimant, Julie Carlisle, met the burden of proof and is entitled to the benefits of the Mississippi Employment Security Commission." The court made no reference to the evidence presented at the September 12, 2002, hearing.

¶ 11. Gilbreath filed a motion to reconsider which was denied on March 20, 2002. Thereafter, on April 16, 2002, he filed a motion to reconsider and for recusal in which he requested an opportunity to be heard on his original motion to reconsider and suggested that "by reason of the close personal friendship of Jerry Gilbreath with the judge, and of the close personal friendship of the Court's law clerk ... with the plaintiff," the trial judge should recuse himself from the cause.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
910 So. 2d 682, 2005 WL 527506, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gilbreath-v-mississippi-employ-sec-comn-missctapp-2005.