MISSISSIPPI EMPLOYMENT SEC. COM'N v. Parker

905 So. 2d 613, 2004 WL 771485
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedApril 13, 2004
Docket2003-CC-00114-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 905 So. 2d 613 (MISSISSIPPI EMPLOYMENT SEC. COM'N v. Parker) 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
MISSISSIPPI EMPLOYMENT SEC. COM'N v. Parker, 905 So. 2d 613, 2004 WL 771485 (Mich. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

905 So.2d 613 (2004)

MISSISSIPPI EMPLOYMENT SECURITY COMMISSION, Appellant,
v.
Alberta PARKER, Appellee.

No. 2003-CC-00114-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

April 13, 2004.
Rehearing Denied July 27, 2004.

*614 B. Ray Therrell, attorney for appellant.

Alberta Parker, appellee, pro se.

Before KING, P.J., BRIDGES, LEE and CHANDLER JJ.

BRIDGES, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. Alberta Parker filed for unemployment benefits. The claims examiner investigating her case disqualified Parker for misconduct. Parker filed an appeal to the Board of Review. The Board of Review found that the appeal filed by Parker was not filed timely and was, therefore, dismissed. Parker appealed to the Circuit Court of Pearl River County which reversed the decision of the Board of Review. The Mississippi Employment Security Commission now appeals to this Court.

STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES

I. WHETHER THE CIRCUIT COURT OF PEARL RIVER COUNTY ERRED BY APPLYING RULE 6 OF THE MISSISSIPPI RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE AND MISSISSIPPI CODE ANNOTATED SECTION 13-3-83 (1972).

II. WHETHER THE BOARD OF REVIEW'S DECISION SHOULD BE AFFIRMED, FINDING THAT THE CLAIMANT, ALBERTA PARKER, FAILED TO TIMELY FILE HER APPEAL TO THE BOARD OF REVIEW, PURSUANT TO MISSISSIPPI CODE ANNOTATED SECTION 71-5-519 (REVISED 1995).

FACTS

¶ 2. Alberta Parker was employed as a dietary supervisor at Crosby Memorial *615 Hospital in Picayune, Mississippi. In January 2002, Healthcare Services Group, Inc. ("HSG") took over operations of the hospital's dietary department. Parker, along with all other employees, was placed on a ninety day probationary period during which time she would be evaluated. Her employment ended on April 12, 2002, when she was discharged for unsatisfactory job performance. Four days later, Parker filed for unemployment benefits, but was disqualified by the claims examiner for misconduct. Further the claims examiner stated in his June 2, 2002 "Notice of Non-monetary Decision," that Parker was terminated for failure to perform her duties satisfactorily, and that the final straw, serving a patient meatballs over rice instead of over spaghetti, constituted misconduct and disqualified her from benefits.

¶ 3. Parker filed a notice of appeal and a hearing was held before an appeals referee on June 26, 2002. At the conclusion of the hearing, the referee found that Parker had been discharged for misconduct, but did not employ the same "meatballs over rice" standard of misconduct. The referee found Parker was terminated for misconduct due to unsatisfactory job performance and her "willful behavior which violated a standard of behavior that the employer has a right to expect." According to Denise Calhoun, director of food services, whose testimony the referee accepted as substantial evidence upon which she based her decision to deny benefits, Parker created a hostile work environment by speaking poorly of HSG to other employees, by failing to lock the kitchen door, by failing to clean up the facilities and by feeding a patient on January 18, 2002, who was under orders not to be fed. The referee's decision was mailed to Parker on July 1, 2002.

¶ 4. On July 16, 2002, Parker appealed the decision of the referee to the Board of Review of the Mississippi Employment Security Commission. The Board of Review held that the appeal filed by Parker was not filed timely and was, therefore, dismissed. Parker appealed to the Circuit Court of Pearl River County. On December 6, 2002, the circuit judge reversed the decision of the Board of Review and found that pursuant to Rule 6 of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure and Mississippi Code Annotated section 13-3-83, Parker was entitled to an additional three days in which to appeal her decision to the Board of Review, meeting the appeal deadline. Additionally, the circuit court held that there was no "substantial, clear and convincing evidence" to support disqualification for misconduct. This appeal followed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 5. The standard of review of administrative agency decisions is "[a]n agency's conclusions must remain undisturbed unless the agency's order 1) is not supported by substantial evidence, 2) is arbitrary or capricious, 3) is beyond the scope or power granted to the agency, or 4) violates one's constitutional rights." Maxwell v. MESC, 792 So.2d 1031, 1032(¶ 7) (Miss.Ct.App.2001).

¶ 6. A rebuttable presumption exists in favor of the administrative agency, and the challenging party has the burden of proving otherwise. Lastly, this Court must not reweigh the facts of the case or insert its judgment for that of the agency. Lewis v. MESC, 767 So.2d 1029(¶ 9) (Miss.Ct.App.2000). Factual findings of the Commission's Board of Review, if supported by substantial evidence, will be upheld on appeal. Miss.Code Ann. § 71-5-531 (Rev.2000).

*616 ANALYSIS

I. WHETHER THE CIRCUIT COURT OF PEARL RIVER COUNTY ERRED BY APPLYING RULE 6 OF THE MISSISSIPPI RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE AND MISSISSIPPI CODE ANNOTATED SECTION 13-3-83 (1972).

II. WHETHER THE BOARD OF REVIEW'S DECISION SHOULD BE AFFIRMED, FINDING THAT THE CLAIMANT, ALBERTA PARKER, FAILED TO TIMELY FILE HER APPEAL TO THE BOARD OF REVIEW, PURSUANT TO MISSISSIPPI CODE ANNOTATED SECTION 71-5-519 (REVISED 1995).

¶ 7. The Circuit Court of Pearl River County reversed the decision of the Board of Review both as to the time of Parker's appeal and the referee's decision to deny benefits. In his opinion and order with respect to the untimeliness of Parker's appeal, the circuit judge set out the law as follows, Mississippi Code Annotated section 71-5-519 reads, in pertinent part, "[t]he parties shall be duly notified of such tribunal's decision . . . which shall be deemed to be the final decision . . . unless, within fourteen (14) days after the date of notification or mailing of such decision, further appeal is initiated. . . ." Also, Mississippi Code Annotated section 71-5-525 reads, "[t]he manner in which appealed claims shall be presented . . . shall be in accordance with regulations prescribed by the board of review for determining the rights of the parties, whether or not such regulations conform to common law or statutory rules of evidence and other technical rules of procedure."

¶ 8. The order adopting the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure reads:

Pursuant to the inherent authority vested in this Court by the Constitution of the State of Mississippi . . . to promote justice, uniformity, and the efficiency of courts, the rules attached hereto are adopted and promulgated as Rules of Practice and Procedure . . . in all civil actions. [A]ny and all statutes and court rules previously adopted to the contrary notwithstanding, and in the event of a conflict between these rules and any statute or court rule previously adopted these rules shall control.

¶ 9. Rule 6 of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure reads:

(a) Computation. In computing any period of time prescribed or allowed by these rules, by order of court, or by any applicable statute, the day of the act, event, or default from which the designated period of time begins to run shall not be included.
(e) Additional Time After Service by Mail.

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Related

MESC v. Parker
903 So. 2d 42 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2005)

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Bluebook (online)
905 So. 2d 613, 2004 WL 771485, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mississippi-employment-sec-comn-v-parker-missctapp-2004.