DAVID T. BERRY, APPELLANT,
v.
SCOTTY'S, INC., AND FLORIDA UNEMPLOYMENT APPEALS COMMISSION, APPELLEES

Fla. 2d DCA | 1998-01-09
No. 97-00355
DANAHY, A.C.J., and ALTENBERND and WHATLEY, JJ., concur.
711 So. 2d 575 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1998) Positive Treatment
Cited by 17 cases

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

David Berry was discharged from Scotty's Inc. after the employer conducted surveillance showing him at another RV business on his days off, suspecting he misrepresented his physical limitations. The Florida Unemployment Appeals Commission reversed an appeals referee's decision awarding Berry unemployment benefits, but this court reversed the Commission because it improperly modified facts and based its decision on a theory of misconduct never asserted by the employer.


Holding

The court reversed the Unemployment Appeals Commission's decision because the Commission improperly modified facts and based its reversal on a theory of misconduct (violation of medical restrictions at Scotty's) that Scotty's never advanced at the hearing. The appeals referee's determination that no misconduct was established is supported by competent, substantial evidence, and Berry is eligible for unemployment compensation.


Headnotes

[1] An employer bears the burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that an employee's discharge was for misconduct connected with work to deny unemployment benefits…

[2] An appellate court must reverse an unemployment compensation commission's reversal of an appeals referee's determination if the referee's decision is supported by compete…

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Key Quotes

“To reverse a referee's determination, the UAC must conclude that determination is not supported by competent, substantial evidence. It does not matter if there is other evidence that would support a different result.”

Establishes the standard of review for administrative agencies reversing factual findings

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Facts & Procedural History

Berry worked for Scotty's as a sales associate starting in December 1992. In September 1993, he suffered a work-related broken foot that healed slowly…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

An appeals referee of the Unemployment Compensation Appeals Bureau determined that the employer, Scotty’s Inc., faded to prove it discharged Mr. Berry for “misconduct connected with his work.” § 443.101(1)(a), Fla. Stat. (1995). The Unemployment Appeals Commission (UAC) reversed that decision, and Mr. Berry appealed. Because the appeals referee’s determination is supported by competent, substantial evidence, we reverse the UAC’s order. Mr. Berry applied for unemployment benefits after Scotty’s terminated his employment on May 24, 1996. The claims adjudicator determined that Mr. Berry was entitled to benefits and Scotty’s appealed, contending that Mr. Berry had been discharged for “dishonesty.”

At the hearing before the appeals referee, Scotty’s had the burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that it had discharged Mr. Berry for misconduct connected with his work. See Doyle v. Florida Unemployment Appeals Comm’n, 635 So. 2d 1028 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994). Scotty’s evidence established that Mr. Berry began working at Scotty’s as a sales associate in December 1992. While at work in September 1993, Mr. Berry suffered a broken foot when a 200-pound roll of wire fell off a stand and onto his foot. Because Mr. Berry is diabetic, his foot was slow in healing. His physician ordered certain work limitations that were progressively more restrictive. Scotty’s tried to accommodate these restrictions by relieving Mr. Berry of some responsibilities, giving him different job duties, and providing him with a motorized cart. Nevertheless, there were times at work when, because of necessity, Mr. Berry had to violate his physician’s restrictions. For example, sometimes Mr. Berry had to lift heavy objects or kneel when the other employees were too busy to assist him.

Scotty’s representative testified that the company suspected Mr. Berry was working beyond his physical restrictions at another job. Scotty’s hired a private investigator to follow Mr. Berry on May 9 and 10, 1996, which were Mr. Berry’s authorized days off at Scotty’s.1 The investigator testified that Mr. Berry drove to Suncoast RV on the morning of May 9, and remained there until 5 p.m. During this time, he observed Mr. Berry roll under an RV while carrying some hand tools, and then come back up a few minutes later and walk away. Mr. Berry also rode his cart around the RV lot, sometimes stopping to go into an RV or into the sales office. The investigator testified he also saw Mr. Berry carrying a tool box and rolling a battery charger. The following morning, the investigator observed Mr. Berry leave his home and drive to Suncoast RV. Mr. Berry went into the office and returned to his vehicle about fifteen minutes later. Mr. Berry then drove to his home where he remained until the investigator left at 2:30 p.m.

Mr. Berry testified that he did not work at Suncoast RV, but he did on occasion advise his friend who owned the business. Before coming to work at Scotty’s, Mr. Berry had worked as an RV mechanic for 20 to 25 years. Mr. Berry basically corroborated the observations of the investigator. He further explained that he was sitting most of the day, he only carried the 15-pound tool box for a minute or so, and it did not take much for him to roll the battery cart.

After reviewing the private investigator’s tape that showed Mr. Berry’s activities at Suncoast RV, Scotty’s fired Mr. Berry on May 24, 1996. Scotty’s representative testified at the hearing that Mr. Berry was fired because he was “dishonest” about his physical limitations. Specifically, the representative stated: “We felt that he could probably do more for us in the capacity — in his physical capacity on the job than he was actually doing. Because there were times it made it very, very difficult for us to — to fulfill his — his position.”

After hearing the evidence, the appeals referee issued an order determining that Scotty’s had not established Mr. Berry’s actions constituted misconduct. The referee found that the investigator’s observations did not reveal Mr. Berry was violating his physician’s restrictions while at the RV business. Accordingly, the referee concluded that Mr. Berry was eligible to receive unemployment compensation.

Upon review, the UAC reversed the referee’s determination, concluding:

The referee ignored the claimant’s admission that he continually violated his medical restrictions while working for the employer.... The claimant admitted that he violated his work restrictions approximately 20 to 30 times per day.... The record reflects that the claimant disregard ed his supervisor’s instructions and proceeded to violate his restrictions during working and non-working hours. The claimant’s actions amounted to insubordination and constituted misconduct connected with work.

To reverse a referee’s determination, the UAC must conclude that determination is not supported by competent, substantial evidence. It does not matter if there is other evidence that would support a different result. See Florida Indus. Comm’n v. Nordin, 101 So. 2d 890 (Fla. 1st DCA 1958). The UAC may reach a different conclusion of law based upon the same evidence, but it may not modify the facts to do so. See Wall v. Unemployment Appeals Comm’n, 682 So. 2d 1187 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996); David Clark & Assocs. v. Kennedy, 390 So. 2d 149 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980).

At the hearing, Scotty’s representative maintained that Mr. Berry was discharged because Scotty’s felt he had misrepresented his impairments and was working beyond the restrictions at another job. Scotty’s never asserted that it discharged Mr. Berry because he was violating his doctor’s restrictions or his supervisor’s instructions at Scotty’s. The UAC’s reversal of the referee’s decision — based upon a theory not advanced by Scotty’s or anticipated by Mr. 'Berry— cannot stand.' Further, that theory is not supported by the testimony of Scotty’s representative, who specifically testified that the company thought Mr. Berry could do more work than he claimed, not that he was violating the job restrictions.

Because the referee’s determination is supported by competent, substantial evidence, the UAC erred in reversing that decision. Accordingly, we reverse the UAC’s order, and remand with directions to reinstate the referee’s determination that Mr. Berry is eligible for unemployment compensation.

Reversed and remanded with directions.

DANAHY, A.C.J., and ALTENBERND and WHATLEY, JJ., concur. . Presumably, this surveillance was performed in connection with the defense of a workers’ compensation claim.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Jeri R. Anderson v. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n, 822 So. 2d 563 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002)
    …, the Commission may not reweigh the evidence and substitute its findings of fact for those of the referee.5 Moreover, the Commission may neither modify a referee’s findings of fact to reach a different legal conclusion, see Berry v. Scotty’s, Inc., 711 So. 2d 575 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998), nor rely on facts that were not established at the hearing conducted by the referee. See Eulo v. Florida Unemployment Appeal Comm’n, 724 So. 2d 636 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999). We conclude that the Referee’s finding that Anderson’s actio…
  • Savage v. MacY'S E., Inc., 719 So. 2d 1208 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998)
    …f and are not told of their rights under the law. Furthermore, and possibly even worse, the Commission, after being reversed on the misconduct [*1210] issue in literally scores of cases by every district court of appeal, see Berry v. Scotty's, Inc., 711 So. 2d 575 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998); Hall v. Florida Unemployment Appeals Comm’n, 700 So. 2d 107 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997), and cases cited; Pion v. Miami Paper & Plastic, Inc., 698 So. 2d 1379 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997); Betancourt v. Sun Bank Miami, N.A., 672 So. 2d 37 (Fla. 3d…
  • …the referee’s legal conclusions based on that evidence. See Ritenour v. Unemployment Appeals Comm’n, 570 So. 2d 1106 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990). The UAC may not, however, modify the facts to reach a different legal conclusion. See Berry v. Scotty’s, Inc., 711 So. 2d 575, 577 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998). Nor may the UAC rely on facts that were not established at the hearing. See Georgia v. Florida Unemployment Appeals Comm’n, 647 So. 2d 279, 282 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994). It further cannot rely on a theory not advanced by one party…

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