Hines v. Dir., Ohio Dept. of Job & Family Servs.

2023 Ohio 4066, 228 N.E.3d 689
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided November 9, 2023·No. 112638·Published

Opinion

[Cite as Hines v. Dir., Ohio Dept. of Job & Family Servs., 2023-Ohio-4066.]

COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO

EIGHTH APPELLATE DISTRICT COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA

BRENDA J. HINES, :

Plaintiff-Appellant, :

No. 112638

v. :

DIRECTOR OF THE OHIO DEPT. : OF JOB & FAMILY SERVICES,

Defendant-Appellee. :

JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION

JUDGMENT: AFFIRMED

RELEASED AND JOURNALIZED: November 9, 2023

Administrative Appeal from the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Case No. CV-23-974836

Appearances:

Voudris Law LLC and Stephan I. Voudris, for appellant.

Dave Yost, Ohio Attorney General, and Brian P. Murphy, Senior Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.

KATHLEEN ANN KEOUGH, P.J.:

Plaintiff-appellant, Brenda J. Hines, appeals the trial court’s decision affirming the decisions of the appellee, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (“ODJFS”) and the Unemployment Compensation Review Commission

(“the Commission”) denying Hines’s application for unemployment benefits. For the reasons that follow, this court affirms. I. Procedural Background From March 2021 until September 2022, Hines was employed by Oxford Government Consulting L.L.C. (“Oxford”). As an Oxford employee, Hines performed clerical or administrative support work. Initially, she primarily worked remotely or from home under a teleworking policy. However, in May 2022, she returned to an in-office setting. It was at that time that she learned that she suffered from a medical condition. On September 20, 2022, Hines saw her medical physician for her condition. As a result, her physician issued a letter to her then-employer that “due to her recent diagnosis [Hines] would need to work from home until her work up is complete.” Hines claimed that she submitted the letter to Oxford along with her request for an accommodation. (Record p. 31.) She worked from home the following day, but on September 22, 2022, Oxford terminated Hines’s employment “for being absent or tardy.”

Hines subsequently filed for unemployment compensation benefits.

In her application, she indicated that she “restricted the type of work” that she was seeking because she had a “doctor’s order [that she] must work from home due to [a] medical condition.” On October 14, 2022, ODJFS determined that Oxford discharged Hines without just cause, but found that “beginning 09/18/2022, the claimant has restricted the work he/she will accept. In doing so, the claimant reduced the opportunity to obtain employment in his/her customary occupation and, as a result, failed to meet the availability requirement of [R.C.] 4141.29(A)(4).”

Hines requested a redetermination of ODJFS’s denial of benefits. On November 3, 2022, ODJFS affirmed its denial of benefits. Hines appealed this decision, and ODJFS transferred the matter to the Commission.

On November 18, 2022, the Commission conducted a telephonic hearing at which Hines provided sworn testimony. At the hearing, Hines explained that she suffered from a temporary medical condition that would require surgery. She told the hearing officer:

So this condition is, it’s just a temporary condition, but, um, I had the condition and I, you know, been working with the condition. Um, I made the mistake and checked the restriction box. You know, I’m not really restricted. I, ah, every job that I fill out for, um, it is for, for a remote position and I was working remote before I even found out that I had, ah, this condition. So, I’m very capable of working.

(November 18, 2022 hearing transcript; record p. 82.)

The hearing officer clarified with Hines that her condition did not prevent her from physically being able to work, but that she was “just not able to go into a formal office setting at this time.” Id. Hines responded:

Right. That’s just the only thing. I’m very capable of working. Like I said, I didn’t even know for a while. And we thought it was something totally different, something minor. And so it’s like I was working in the office and then I was blessed enough to get some positions where I could work from home. And I guess as time went on, um, my condition got worse.

Id. at p. 83. Hines further explained that she had not yet scheduled her surgery because she would need to undergo three procedures beforehand.

Regarding availability of work, Hines stated that nothing would interfere with her ability to work full time because she was able to schedule certain procedures on the weekends. She further denied that her condition or “flare-ups” would render her physically incapacitated for the day — “when it happens, it’s just a quick fix. Okay? It’s nothing that requires like, it keeps me down for a day. It’s just, it’s just a quick fix.” Id. at record p. 85.

Finally, Hines expressed that her condition is not a restriction and that she made a mistake in marking “restricted” on her unemployment compensation application.

I am very capable of working. Um, my work for the last four or five years has been nothing but office work and it is work that can be done from home. As you see, I have been working from home. And, um, it was my mistake when I put “restricted.” * * * I’m just, you know, temporarily out of commission as far as being able to go into a physical facility with the proper bathroom facility for me. But, like I said, that is just something temporary. I’m working on it. Um, I have been working with this condition. And hoping to get gainfully employed, you know, soon, even though I still have this condition. They’ll be able to, you know, correct it and go back to being a person that can go into a, you know, a physical facility. But, um, I am able to work. I’m not restricted as far as that goes.

Id. at p. 86.

On December 3, 2022, the Commission affirmed ODJFS’s decision.

It determined that Hines’s medical condition and restriction rendered her ineligible for benefits for the period beginning September 18, 2022, because she was not available for suitable work as required by R.C. 4141.29(A)(4). Following this determination, Hines retained counsel who requested a review of the Commission’s decision pursuant to R.C. 4141.281(C)(3). On January 11, 2023, the Commission disallowed counsel’s request for review. This appeal followed. II. Standard of Review R.C. 4141.282(H) sets forth the appropriate standard of review: “[i]f the court finds that the decision of the commission was unlawful, unreasonable, or against the manifest weight of the evidence, it shall reverse, vacate, or modify the decision, or remand the matter to the commission. Otherwise, the court shall affirm the decision of the commission.” See also Geretz v. Dir., Ohio Dept. of Job & Family Servs., 114 Ohio St.3d 89, 2007-Ohio-2941, 868 N.E.2d 669, ¶ 10, quoting Tzangas, Plakas & Mannos v. Ohio Bur. of Emp. Servs., 73 Ohio St.3d 694, 697, 653 N.E.2d 1207 (1995). This standard of review applies to “‘all reviewing courts, from the first level of review in the common pleas court, through the final appeal in’ the Supreme Court of Ohio.” Boynton v. Dir., Ohio Dept. of Job & Family Servs., 10th Dist. Franklin No. 21AP-481, 2022-Ohio-2597, ¶ 8, quoting Tzangas at 696.

Our focus, therefore, is on the Commission’s determination rather than the common pleas court’s decision. Boynton at ¶ 8, citing Houser v. Dir., Ohio Dept. of Job & Family Servs., 10th Dist. Franklin No. 10AP-116, 2011-Ohio-1593, ¶ 7, citing Carter v. Univ. of Toledo, 6th Dist. Lucas No. L-07-1260, 2008-Ohio- 1958, ¶ 12. Accordingly, this court may reverse the Commission’s decision only if it is unlawful, unreasonable, or against the manifest weight of the evidence. Irvine v. State, Unemp. Comp. Bd. of Rev., 19 Ohio St.3d 15, 18, 482 N.E.2d 587 (1985), citing Brown-Brockmeyer Co. v. Roach, 148 Ohio St. 511, 518, 76 N.E.2d 79 (1947).

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Hines v. Dir., Ohio Dept. of Job & Family Servs., 2023 Ohio 4066, 228 N.E.3d 689 (Ohio Ct. App. 2023).

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