Gomez v. American Bankers Life Assurance Co. of Florida

District Court of Appeal of Florida

Gomez v. American Bankers Life Assurance Co. of Florida

839 So. 2d 894, 2003 Fla. App. LEXIS 3106, 2003 WL 1040934

District Court of Appeal of Florida·Decided March 12, 2003·No. No. 3D02-949·Published

Opinion

SHEVIN, Judge.

Irving Gomez appeals an order of the Unemployment Appeals Commission affirming the denial of benefits. We reverse. The record shows that Gomez sent an unauthorized innocuous e-mail to a coworker; this isolated incident of poor judgment is insufficient to establish misconduct and justify the denial of benefits. See Vega v. Florida Unemployment Appeals, 833 So.2d 310 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003)(employ-ee’s isolated act of misjudgment does not constitute misconduct justifying denial of benefits); Gonzalez v. Florida Unemployment Appeals Comm’n, 752 So.2d 726 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000)(same); Fenelus v. Publix Super Mkts., Inc., 727 So.2d 274 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999)(same); Delaney v. Unemployment Appeals Comm’n, 720 So.2d 320 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998)(using company e-mail to send joke after non-specific warning was a single act of poor judgment rather than wilful or wanton disregard of employer’s interest). See generally Carol Schultz Vento, Annotation, Use of Employer’s EMail or Internet System as Misconduct Precluding Unemployment Compensation, 106 A.L.R. 5th 297 (2003). Accordingly, we reverse the order.

Reversed.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

SHEVIN, Judge.

Irving Gomez appeals an order of the Unemployment Appeals Commission affirming the denial of benefits. We reverse. The record shows that Gomez sent an unauthorized innocuous e-mail to a coworker; this isolated incident of poor judgment is insufficient to establish misconduct and justify the denial of benefits. See Vega v. Florida Unemployment Appeals, 833 So.2d 310 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003)(employ-ee’s isolated act of misjudgment does not constitute misconduct justifying denial of benefits); Gonzalez v. Florida Unemployment Appeals Comm’n, 752 So.2d 726 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000)(same); Fenelus v. Publix Super Mkts., Inc., 727 So.2d 274 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999)(same); Delaney v. Unemployment Appeals Comm’n, 720 So.2d 320 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998)(using company e-mail to send joke after non-specific warning was a single act of poor judgment rather than wilful or wanton disregard of employer’s interest). See generally Carol Schultz Vento, Annotation, Use of Employer’s EMail or Internet System as Misconduct Precluding Unemployment Compensation, 106 A.L.R. 5th 297 (2003). Accordingly, we reverse the order.

Reversed.

Gomez v. American Bankers Life Assurance Co. of Florida, 839 So. 2d 894, 2003 Fla. App. LEXIS 3106, 2003 WL 1040934 (Fla. Ct. App. 2003).

Pincite

839 So. 2d 894 (Gomez v. American Bankers Life Assurance Co. of Florida) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Opinion

Related