MAMIE L. JONES, APPELLANT,
v.
CREATIVE WORLD SCHOOL, INC., AND FLORIDA UNEMPLOYMENT APPEALS COMMISSION, APPELLEES
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Mrs. Jones appealed the Florida Unemployment Appeals Commission's reversal of an appeals referee's decision finding that Jones was discharged without good cause rather than voluntarily leaving employment. The court reversed the UAC's decision because the UAC improperly substituted its factual findings for the referee's findings, which were supported by substantial, competent evidence.
The court held that the UAC erred in reversing the referee's decision because whether a claimant left voluntarily is a question of fact that the UAC may only reverse when the referee's decision lacks substantial, competent evidence support. The record supported the referee's determination that Jones did not voluntarily leave employment.
[1] An unemployment appeals commission may reverse a referee's factual finding only when the finding is not based on substantial, competent evidence.
[2] The determination of whether a claimant voluntarily left employment is a question of fact.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The question of whether a claimant left voluntarily is one of fact.”
Establishes that voluntary separation is a factual question, not a legal conclusion, affecting the standard of review.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMrs. Jones informed her regional director on June 10, 1991, that she might relocate to Seattle to live with her daughter, but soon after changed her m…
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PER CURIAM.
Claimant, Mrs. Jones, appeals the decision of the Florida Unemployment Appeals Commission (UAC) reversing the appeals referee’s decision that she had not voluntarily left her employment without good cause attributable to her employer but had been discharged without good cause. Because the UAC substituted its factual findings for those of the referee, we reverse.
At the hearing before the appeals referee, claimant testified that she had told the regional director on June 10, 1991, that she might relocate to Seattle, Washington to live with her daughter. Within a short time after this conversation, claimant told the regional director that she had changed her mind and would not be moving because her son would be having surgery. The regional director testified that claimant had told her she would be relocating to Seattle and would no longer be working after June 28, 1991. A replacement had been hired to begin work the following Monday.
The appeals referee apparently believed the claimant’s testimony and found that the claimant had not voluntarily left her employment but had been discharged for reasons other than misconduct. Claimant had not been warned prior to July 1 that she would be fired for failure to obtain 26 hours of required training. Claimant had obtained 24 hours, and the employer testified that she would not have been fired for falling two hours’ short. The UAC reversed the referee’s decision, ostensibly based on the referee’s making an erroneous conclusion of law that the claimant had not left voluntarily.
The question of whether a claimant left voluntarily is one of fact. Verner v. Unemployment Appeals Comm’n, 474 So. 2d 909 (Fla.2d DCA 1985). The UAC may reverse a finding only when the referee’s decision is not based on substantial, competent evidence. C.F. Chemicals, Inc. v. Department of Labor and Employment Security, 400 So. 2d 846 (Fla.2d DCA 1981). Because we find that the record supports the referee’s determination that the claimant did not voluntarily leave her employment, the UAC erred in reversing the decision.
Accordingly, the order of the UAC is reversed and the decision of the appeals referee is reinstated.
LEHAN, C.J., and RYDER and DANAHY, JJ., concur.
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Fink v. Fla. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n & Home Depot USA Inc., 665 So. 2d 373 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)…ty bound to affirm the findings of misconduct made by the referee because those findings were based on competent, substantial evidence in the record. Palmere v. Computerland, 626 So. 2d 1114 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993); Jones v. Creative World School, Inc., 603 So. 2d 118 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992); David Clark & Assocs., Inc. v. Kennedy, 390 So. 2d 149 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980). Likewise, this court must affirm the decision of the UAC based on the well-established and familiar legal principle that an administrative agency’s actio…
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Porter v. Fla. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n & Allen Child. Ctrs., Inc., 1 So. 3d 1101 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009)…of the appeals referee.” Roman v. A-l Specialty Gasolines, Inc., 682 So. 2d 1241, 1242 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996) (citing Campeanu v. Fla. Unemployment Appeals Comm’n, 629 So. 2d 1015, 1016 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993)); see also Jones v. Creative World Sch., Inc., 603 So. 2d 118, 119 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992); Ritenour v. Unemployment Appeals Comm’n, 570 So. 2d 1106, 1107 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990). But this court must reverse the Commission’s decision to affirm the referee’s findings where, as here, competent, substantial evidence does…
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Saenz v. Fla. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n & Elec. Fuels Corp., 647 So. 2d 283 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994)…e of the referee as the trier of fact. The UAC may only modify or reverse the findings and conclusions of a referee where the referee’s findings and conclusions are not based on substantial, competent evidence. Jones v. Creative World School, Inc., 603 So. 2d 118 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992); Verner v. UAC, 474 So. 2d 909 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985). There was substantial, competent evidence to support the findings of fact and the conclusion that the claimant left her employment for good cause attributable to her employer. The…
Previewing 3 of 9 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Verner v. State, 474 So. 2d 909 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985)
- Huggins v. State, 400 So. 2d 846 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981)