Ryan v. Motor Technologies Group

180 S.W.3d 94, 2005 Mo. App. LEXIS 1949, 2005 WL 3556030
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 30, 2005
Docket26936
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 180 S.W.3d 94 (Ryan v. Motor Technologies Group) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ryan v. Motor Technologies Group, 180 S.W.3d 94, 2005 Mo. App. LEXIS 1949, 2005 WL 3556030 (Mo. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

PHILLIP R. GARRISON, Judge.

Karen L. (Besaw) Ryan, (“Claimant”) appeals a decision of the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission (“Commission”) denying her claim for unemployment compensation benefits under Section 288.050. 1 We affirm.

Claimant worked for Motor Technologies Group (“Employer”) for approximately eight months performing fabrication work. The dispute began on August 17, 2004, when Claimant received four notices of disciplinary action, which were dated *96 August 16, 2004. The first notice stated that on August 13, 2004, at approximately 6:30 p.m., Claimant left her work station and was getting candy and soda in the cafeteria. The second notice said that Claimant, on August 13, 2004, left her work station without notifying her supervisor and went to the front office to inquire about paychecks. The third notice recited that on August 13, 2004, Claimant was spreading rumors, upsetting other employees, and disrupting work. The fourth notice stated that Claimant was “going from one employee to another on working hours upsetting them telling them about paychecks,” on August 13, 2004. All four notices were signed by Larry Bean (“Bean”), Claimant’s supervisor.

When Bean presented Claimant with the four notices on August 17, 2004, she became upset because she believed that they were in retaliation for a previous complaint she had made to the human resource manager about William Brosnick (“Brosnick”), Bean’s supervisor. Claimant walked off the job with the belief that, according to the Employer’s policy manual, an employee is discharged after being written up three times.

Claimant filed a claim for unemployment compensation benefits with the Missouri Division of Employment Security, which was denied on September 24, 2004, because the Deputy determined that she left her employment voluntarily without good cause attributable to her work or employer. On September 29, 2004, she appealed to the Appeals Tribunal, which, after a hearing via telephone conference on October 19, 2004, reversed the Deputy’s ruling, stating that “[Claimant is not disqualified for benefits because of her voluntary separation from work on August 17, 2004.”

On November 3, 2004, Employer filed an application for review with the Commission. The Commission issued its findings of fact and conclusions of law reversing the decision of the Appeals Tribunal, finding that Claimant was disqualified for benefits until she had earned wages for insured work after August 17, 2004, equal to ten times her weekly benefit amount because she “left work voluntarily on that date without good cause attributable to her work or employer.” Claimant appeals this decision.

In her sole point, Claimant argues that the Commission erred in denying her unemployment benefits. She argues that she left work voluntarily, for good cause in that she endured a course of abusive and retaliatory conduct by her supervisor during the term of her employment, and acted with good faith to prevent the termination of that employment. We disagree.

Claimant’s assertion is based on the sufficiency of the evidence, and as such the scope of our review under Article V, § 18, of the Missouri Constitution and Section 288.210 are limited to whether the Commission’s decision was “supported by competent and substantial evidence upon the whole record.” Coyne v. Cargill, Inc., 167 S.W.3d 800, 801 (Mo.App. S.D.2006) (quoting CNW Foods, Inc. v. Davidson, 141 S.W.3d 100, 102 (Mo.App. S.D.2004)). Section 288.210 states, in pertinent part, that

[u]pon appeal no additional evidence shall be heard. The findings of the commission as to the facts, if supported by competent and substantial evidence and in the absence of fraud, shall be conclusive, and the jurisdiction of the appellate court shall be confined to questions of law.

In reviewing the Commission’s order for competent and substantial evidence, we must defer to the Commission’s determinations as to the credibility of witnesses and the resolution of conflicting evidence. *97 Taylor v. Div. of Employment Sec., 153 S.W.3d 878, 881 (Mo.App. S.D.2005); CNW Foods, Inc., 141 S.W.3d at 102-03; Shelby v. Hayward Baker, Inc., 128 S.W.3d 164, 166 (Mo.App. S.D.2004). However, we are not bound by the Commission’s conclusions of law or its application of law to facts and we review questions of law independently. Taylor, 153 S.W.3d at 881; see also Shelby, 128 S.W.3d at 165-66.

Under Section 288.050.1(1) a claimant is disqualified for unemployment compensation if “[t]he claimant has left work voluntarily without good cause attributable to such work or to the claimant’s employer.” Good cause is limited to those situations in which Claimant has resigned her position as a result of “external pressures so compelling that a reasonably prudent person would be justified in giving up employment.” Citizens Bank of Shelbyville v. Indus. Comm’n, 428 S.W.2d 895, 899 (Mo.App.St.L.Dist.1968). Good cause includes an element of good faith. Clark v. Labor and Indus. Relations Comm’n, 875 S.W.2d 624, 627 (Mo.App. W.D.1994). “A worker has good cause to terminate employment voluntarily when that conduct conforms to what an average person, who acts with reasonableness and in good faith, would do.” Id. In order to establish good faith, a claimant must prove that an effort was made to “resolve the dispute before resorting to the drastic remedy of quitting [her] job.” Id. (quoting Tin Man Enter., Inc. v. Labor & Indus. Relations Comm’n, 866 S.W.2d 147, 149 (Mo.App. E.D.1993)). Whether an employee has voluntarily left her employment with good cause is a question of law. Springfield Grocer Co., Inc. v. Sartin, 49 S.W.3d 817, 820 (Mo.App. S.D.2001).

In this case the evidence clearly supports the Commission’s decision. Claimant argues that she left work for good cause on August 17, 2004, after receiving four notices of disciplinary action. Claimant concedes that the events surrounding the August 16, 2004, notices, including Brosnick’s use of vulgar language toward her on August 13, 2004, do not alone constitute good cause. Rather, she asserts that the verbal abuse she allegedly suffered by Brosnick prior to August 13, 2004, in conjunction with the events surrounding the notices, gave her good cause to sever ties with Employer. However, Claimant has not provided any specific evidence of verbal abuse prior to August 13, 2004, which would support such a finding.

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180 S.W.3d 94, 2005 Mo. App. LEXIS 1949, 2005 WL 3556030, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ryan-v-motor-technologies-group-moctapp-2005.