Smith v. U.S. Postal Service

69 S.W.3d 926, 2002 Mo. App. LEXIS 656, 2002 WL 449660
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 25, 2002
DocketNo. 24341
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 69 S.W.3d 926 (Smith v. U.S. Postal Service) 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
Smith v. U.S. Postal Service, 69 S.W.3d 926, 2002 Mo. App. LEXIS 656, 2002 WL 449660 (Mo. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

KENNETH W. SHRUM, Presiding Judge.

Frances June Smith (“Employee”) appeals the decision of the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission (“Commission”) denying her unemployment benefits under the Missouri Employment Security Law, § 288.010 et seq.1 Employee alleges Commission’s decision is “against the weight of the evidence, in that [Employee] did not leave her employment without good cause.” We disagree. We affirm.

Employee began working for the United States Postal Service (“Employer”) in 1986 and continued to work for it until voluntarily resigning on July 31, 2000. Employee gave various reasons for quitting her job including “harassment” and “humilia[928]*928tion,” problems with co-workers, anxiety and nerves, and confusion regarding the management and policies of Employer. Employee claims these problems constituted “good cause” for resignation as contemplated by § 288.050.2

The Commission determined Employee failed to show good cause as her claims of “anxiety and depression [were] surely elevated as much by concern about tests for suspected threats to her health from a serious illness as from any of the circumstances described by [Employee] as caused by [Employer].” Moreover, the Commission found Employee’s reasons for quitting were legally insufficient to demonstrate good cause.

Review of the Commission’s decision denying unemployment benefits is governed by § 288.210. Kansas City Power and Light Co. v. Searcy, 28 S.W.3d 891, 894 (Mo.App.2000). In pertinent part, the statute provides:

“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. The court, on appeal, may modify, reverse, remand for rehearing, or set aside the decision of the commission on the following grounds and no other:
“(1) That the commission acted without or in excess of its powers;
“(2) That the decision was procured by fraud;
“(3) That the facts found by the commission do not support the award; or
“(4) That there was no sufficient competent evidence in the record to warrant the making of the award.”

We view the evidence and all reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the factual findings of the Commission. Worley v. Division of Employment Security, 978 S.W.2d 480, 482[4] (Mo.App.1998). To the extent an appeal involves questions of law, we do not defer to the Commission’s findings. Searcy, 28 S.W.3d at 894[1].

Employee claims that stress from her job over a long period of time forced her to resign. Other than her own testimony, the only evidence Employee presented to support her claim was a letter from her doctor which stated Employee “was under severe stress both medically as well as with her job. My rec: would have been to focus her energys [sic] on recovery for her health.” The letter was dated four and one-half months after she resigned. On the day Employee quit, she discovered she needed to undergo surgery for a “malignant melanoma.” If a claimant quits a job and seeks unemployment compensation benefits alleging medical reasons as good cause for quitting, such claimant must ordinarily adduce expert medical evidence to prove a causal connection between the employee’s work and the medical reason relied on. Searcy, 28 S.W.3d at 895[4]. An exception to such rule exists where the causal connection is within the common knowledge or experience of a layperson. Id. “[T]he cases that have addressed the issue of whether the evidence was sufficient to establish that claimed anxiety, depression, or panic attacks [929]*929caused an employee to quit have required medical evidence.” Id. at 895.

Here, the letter from Employee’s doctor was produced months after Employee resigned. It provided mere conclusions that Employee suffered work-related stress. Nothing in the letter showed a foundation for the doctor’s opinion or diagnosis, i.e., the doctor’s report was devoid of any history given him by Employee regarding work conditions. There was no evidence the doctor had training or experience as a mental health professional. Moreover, Employee admitted that, as late as June 2000, her doctor had not diagnosed her as “depressed,” nor had he prescribed medication for depression. In summary, this letter simply was not sufficient competent and substantial medical evidence to show the necessary relationship between the conditions of employment and the medical reasons for unemployment. Reed v. Labor and Indus. Relations Comm’n, 664 S.W.2d 650, 653[8] (Mo.App.1984) (holding conclusory affidavit by doctor regarding alleged work-related depression and anxiety was not substantial and competent evidence); see also Searcy, 28 S.W.3d at 896[6]. Employee failed to meet her burden on this issue, and the Commission did not err when it denied her claim because she failed to prove her anxiety and depression were caused by her job.

Employee’s claim fails for the additional reason that she cannot show good cause for quitting her job as required by the statute. “The standard as to what constitutes good cause is the standard of reasonableness as applied to the average man or woman, and not to the supersensi-tive.” Belle State Bank v. Indus. Comm’n, Div. of Employment Sec., 547 S.W.2d 841, 846-47[5] (Mo.App.1977). The unemployment must be caused by external pressures so compelling that a reasonably prudent person would be justified in giving up employment. Reed, 664 S.W.2d at 652.

“To constitute good cause, the circumstances motivating an employee to voluntarily terminate employment must be real not imaginary, substantial not trifling, and reasonable not whimsical, and good faith is an essential element.” Belle State Bank, 547 S.W.2d at 846[5]. “[T]he Employment Security Law was designed to avoid the menace of economic insecurity, not to make work pleasant for employees .... [Pjetty irritations are part of everyday living and no work is conducted in an atmosphere of complete sweetness and light.” Citizens Bank of Shelbyville v. Industrial Comm’n, 428 S.W.2d 895, 900 (Mo.App.1968).

Employee made numerous allegations in an attempt to demonstrate good cause for her voluntary resignation. Primarily, Employee’s complaint was that she had been harassed by Employer on numerous occasions. Apparently, this claim stemmed from an investigation by Employer regarding the falsification of time-cards by the postmaster of Macks Creek.3 Employee refused to give a statement regarding the investigation because four to five years earlier she had made a statement in an investigation that resulted in some employees’ termination.

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Bluebook (online)
69 S.W.3d 926, 2002 Mo. App. LEXIS 656, 2002 WL 449660, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-us-postal-service-moctapp-2002.