SONDI K. KARTMAN, APPELLANT,
v.
UNEMPLOYMENT APPEALS COMMISSION, ETC., APPELLEE

Fla. 5th DCA | 1984-08-30
No. 83-1075
COBB, C.J., and SHARP, J., concur.
454 So. 2d 1073 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (1984) Positive Treatment
Cited by 1 case

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Sondi Kartman appeals the denial of unemployment benefits after leaving her hostess job at Sheraton World. The court reversed the Unemployment Appeals Commission's finding of misconduct, holding that Kartman's departure did not constitute willful or wanton disregard of her employer's interests given her prior complaints about harassment and the employer's own discipline standards.


Holding

Kartman's departure was not misconduct. Under Florida's misconduct standard requiring willful or wanton disregard of the employer's interests, the court found Kartman's actions distinguishable from prior cases because she was subjected to embarrassment and humiliation, sought assistance from her supervisor before departing, and the employer's own published discipline standards provided only an oral reprimand for a first violation of leaving during working hours, with discharge only on the third violation.


Headnotes

[1] Leaving work without notifying a supervisor or manager, after experiencing workplace conflict and seeking supervisor assistance without resolution, does not necessarily c…

[2] An employee's departure from work may not be considered misconduct if the employer's own disciplinary standards dictate a lesser penalty for the specific infraction.

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Key Quotes

“[QUOTE REDACTED — failed verbatim audit (paraphrase, not verbatim). See original_text for the text as originally displayed.]”

Establishes the statutory definition of misconduct that must be proven to disqualify an employee from benefits

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Facts & Procedural History

Kartman began working as a hostess at Sheraton World in November 1982 and transferred to Cafe Sunrise in February 1983. A senior hostess criticized Ka…

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Opinion of the Court
FRANK D. UPCHURCH, Jr., Judge.

FRANK D. UPCHURCH, Jr., Judge.

Sondi Kartman appeals from a final order of the Unemployment Appeals Commission which affirmed the appeals referee’s decision denying her unemployment compensation benefits.

Kartman began working for Sheraton World as a hostess in November, 1982. In February, 1983, she was transferred to the company’s Cafe Sunrise. Her duties were to greet and seat customers. A senior hostess was assigned to show Kartman the proper procedure for seating people at her new work place. Apparently the hostess was not as tactful as she might have been and castigated Kartman for a mistake in front of customers. Kartman complained of this treatment to a supervisor who took no steps to alleviate the friction between the two. When a similar incident happened again a few minutes later, Kartman left her assigned duties and went home without notifying the manager or supervisor. Later in the day, she called in and told the manager what had happened. The manager testified he checked with the senior hostess and concluded that Kartman, in walking off the job, had quit. Kartman testified that the manager told her she was fired.

The appeals referee concluded that Kart-man’s action in leaving work amounted to misconduct connected with her work and disqualified her for benefits. The commission affirmed.

Section 443.101(l)(a), Florida Statutes (1983), provides that no unemployment benefits may be received if an employee is discharged for misconduct. “Misconduct” is defined in section 443.036(24), Florida Statutes (1983), as follows:

“Misconduct” includes, but is not limited to, the following, which shall not be construed in pari materia with each other:
(a) Conduct evincing such willful or wanton disregard of an employer’s interests as is found in deliberate violation or disregard of standards of behavior which the employer has the right to expect of his employee; or (b) Carelessness or negligence of such a degree or recurrence as to manifest culpability, wrongful intent, or evil design or to show an intentional and substantial disregard of the employer’s interests or of the employee’s duties and obligations to his employer. We recently held in Davis v. Unemployment Appeals Commission, 425 So. 2d 198 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983) that an employee’s action in walking off the job, combined with his failure to give reasonable assistance to another employee during a peak in business activity, amounted to an intentional and substantial disregard of his employer’s interests so as to constitute misconduct. That ease is distinguishable from the instant one. Kartman was subjected to embarrassment and humiliation in front of customers on two occasions and sought assistance from her supervisor without success before departing. Additionally, here Sheraton World established and published “Standards of Discipline” governing employees and specified the penalties for violation of these rules. “Leaving hotel during working hours without permission” carried the penalty of an oral reprimand for the first violation and only on the third violation did the standards provide for discharge. Under these circumstances, the referee and commission were incorrect in concluding that Kartman acted with a “willful or wanton disregard” of her employer’s interests or in “substantial disregard” of its interests.

REVERSED.

COBB, C.J., and SHARP, J., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Ardley v. State, 491 So. 2d 1259 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986)
    …ion for post-conviction relief sought pursuant to Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.850. We affirm. Ardley was convicted of armed robbery with a firearm and his sentence, a departure from the presumptive guidelines range, was per curiam affirmed in Ardley v. State, 454 So. 2d 1073 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984). Since that time a change in sentencing guidelines law has occurred per Hendrix v. State, 475 So. 2d 1218 (Fla.1985), and Albritton v. State, 476 So. 2d 158 (Fla.1985). Ardley contends these recent Florida Supreme Court rulings a…

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