Yaeger v. FLA. UNEMPLOYMENT APPEALS COM'N

786 So. 2d 48, 2001 WL 514191
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMay 16, 2001
Docket3D00-1832
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 786 So. 2d 48 (Yaeger v. FLA. UNEMPLOYMENT APPEALS COM'N) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Yaeger v. FLA. UNEMPLOYMENT APPEALS COM'N, 786 So. 2d 48, 2001 WL 514191 (Fla. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

786 So.2d 48 (2001)

Laubette YAEGER, Appellant,
v.
FLORIDA UNEMPLOYMENT APPEALS COMMISSION and Aircraft Armature, Inc., Appellees.

No. 3D00-1832.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

May 16, 2001.

*49 Laubette Yaeger, in proper person.

John D. Maher (Tallahassee), for appellee.

Before LEVY, GREEN, and RAMIREZ, JJ.

GREEN, J.

Appellant, Laubette A. Yaeger appeals an order denying her claim for unemployment benefits. We reverse.

Yaeger had been employed by the appellee/employer for twelve years as a motor winder when she left due to her claims of sexual harassment and/or a hostile work environment by a male coworker. At the hearing below, the referee found that Yaeger had not left work with good cause attributable to her employer, based upon the following findings of fact and conclusions of law:

Findings of Fact: The claimant became employed by an air-conditioning and electrical motor shop, as a motor winder, in 1986. Through the years the claimant grew dissatisfied with her wages. The claimant was also dissatisfied with what she believed was a disparity between the way women and men were treated, besides the difference in wages and opportunity to work overtime.
In 1996, the claimant complained to the president regarding why she worked 36 hours, less than the rest of the other employees. The employer had previously reduced the hours of all employees after the business slowed down, but subsequently, after the business increased, returned the former hours to all employees except to the claimant. The president had not increased her hours because the claimant had a poor attendance record, including being frequently late for work. The claimant had suffered several serious illnesses and had other family problems related to illnesses and a death in the family during the previous years. After her complaint, the president assigned the claimant additional hours of work.
At some point in time during the ensuing period, the claimant brought to the job and loaned tapes of movies of a *50 crude subject matter, including a scene or scenes of characters having sex with a chicken and male nudity. Thereafter, the claimant became upset because of comments being made by one of the individuals to whom she had loaned the tapes. Comments made were to the like of, "are you having Peter," when the claimant made a comment that she was going to lunch. The claimant had in fact complained about this employee and also regarding racial slurs and sexual comments, but she did not complain to her supervisor, the company president. The claimant did not complain to the individual left in charge when the president was not there, the president's son-in-law, because she did not believe it would do any good.
On September 8, 1998, the claimant presented a letter of complaint to the president enumerating all the reasons for her dissatisfaction with the conditions of employment, but primarily complaining about her coworker's behavior. The president offered to move the claimant's work bench, which the claimant did not believe would resolve the problem, since she would only be a short distance from the employee. The claimant declined this suggestion. The president told the claimant that he would call her.
During the ensuing two or three days, the president questioned the employee and other employees. In the meantime, the claimant worked September 9, 1998 and September 10, 1998. On September 11, 1998, the claimant left work before the end of her shift because she was upset. One of the last comments which the claimant heard was, "Snitch," which she believed had been directed at her by the employee. The claimant did not come to work on Monday, September 14, 1998. She believed the president had enough time to take action and had not. On Tuesday, September 15, 1998, the claimant telephoned the president and warned him that she was not returning to work.
Conclusions of Law: The law provides that a claimant who has voluntarily left work without good cause as defined in the statute shall be disqualified from receiving benefits. "Good cause" includes only such cause as is attributable to the employing unit or which consists of an illness or disability of the claimant requiring separation from the work. The term "work" means any work, whether full-time, part-time or temporary.
The record and evidence in this case show the claimant left her employment effective September 11, 1998. The evidence presented reveals this action was taken by her because she had concluded the employer did not take any action after she formally complained in writing regarding the conditions of employment that she found to be intolerable. The claimant's letter of complaint included all aspects of the work as in hours, assignments and wages. The claimant's primary area of complaints was directed at the behavior of a coworker towards her and his behavior in general. The coworker's sexual comments and racial commentary and other comments directed at her, were identified by her as harassment.
The claimant rejected an initial offer by the employer to move her bench and she left work on September 11, 1998, not to return. The claimant had given the employer less than three days to address her formal complaint, after concluding that her complaint was being ignored. Even if the claimant's complaints were valid, she should have given the employer a reasonable time to resolve the problems or warned the employer of a time limit before she would take some other *51 action. Even though the behavior described by the claimant of this other employee was inexcusable, her own actions in sharing movies and other questionable related material with this employee did not help her cause. If the claimant had been harassed by this individual for such a long time, she should not have brought into work and loaned this kind of material to the offending individual.
Based on the above considerations, it is found the claimant voluntarily quit her job without good cause attributable to the employer.

Yaeger appealed the referee's denial of unemployment compensation benefits to the Unemployment Appeals Commission ("UAC"). The UAC rejected the referee's finding that Yaeger had not complained to the individual left in charge of the employer's shop when the president was not there as not being supported by competent, substantial evidence. The UAC nevertheless concluded that its rejection of this factual finding did not otherwise affect the legal correctness of the referee's ultimate decision. Accordingly, the UAC affirmed the denial of unemployment compensation benefits to Yaeger. It is from this order of the UAC that the instant appeal was taken.

Generally speaking, neither the UAC or this court may reweigh the evidence and substitute its findings for those of the referee. See Grossman v. Jewish Community Center of Greater Fort Lauderdale, Inc., 704 So.2d 714, 716 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998); Studor, Inc. v. Duren, 635 So.2d 141, 142 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994); Verner v. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n, 474 So.2d 909 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985). The UAC and/or this court may reverse the referee's findings of fact, however, where there is no competent, substantial evidence in the record to support the referee's decision. Id.; section 120.57, Fla.Stat. (1999). Based upon our review of the record, we conclude that the UAC correctly rejected the referee's finding that Yaeger had not complained to the individual left in charge by the employer.

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Bluebook (online)
786 So. 2d 48, 2001 WL 514191, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/yaeger-v-fla-unemployment-appeals-comn-fladistctapp-2001.