JUAN F. NAVARRETE, APPELLANT,
v.
FLORIDA UNEMPLOYMENT APPEALS COMMISSION, ET AL., APPELLEES

Fla. 3d DCA | 1999-02-03
No. 98-1650
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and JORGENSON and GERSTEN, JJ.
726 So. 2d 833 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1999) Positive Treatment
Cited by 12 cases

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Holding

The court held that the claimant's actions, while potentially poor judgment, did not rise to the level of misconduct disqualifying him from unemployment benefits.


Facts & Procedural History

The claimant was denied unemployment benefits due to alleged misconduct. The record indicated the claimant may have exercised poor judgment but believ…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Juan Navarrete appeals from an order of the Unemployment Appeals Commission that affirmed the denial of unemployment compensation benefits on the basis of misconduct connected with his work. For the reasons that follow, we reverse.

As this court has repeatedly stated, “Misconduct serious enough to warrant an employee’s dismissal is not necessarily serious enough to warrant the forfeiture of compensation benefits.” Benitez v. Girlfriday, Inc., 609 So. 2d 665, 666 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992); see also Baptiste v. Waste Management, Inc., 701 So. 2d 386 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997); Webb v. Douglas N. Rice, C.P.A., 693 So. 2d 1109 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997); Miller v. Barnett Bank of Broward County, 650 So. 2d 1089 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995).

Moreover, the mere exercise of poor judgment does not amount to misconduct sufficient to support the denial of unemployment compensation benefits. See Miller, 650 So. 2d at 1090; see also Kelley v. Pueblo Wholesale Co., 627 So. 2d 534 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993).

The record in this case establishes that although the claimant may not have been a stellar employee, and that he did exercise poor judgment believing that he was acting in his employer’s best interests, his actions did not amount to misconduct that disqualifies him from receiving benefits.

Reversed and remanded with directions to grant claimant unemployment compensation benefits.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Inseul Fenelus v. Publix Super Mkts., Inc., 727 So. 2d 274 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999)
    …The record reveals that Fenelus’ actions demonstrate “the mere exercise of poor judgment [that] does not amount to misconduct sufficient to support the denial of unemployment compensation benefits.” Navarrete v. Florida Unemployment Appeals Comm’n, 726 So. 2d 833 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999). See, e.g., Baptiste v. Waste Management, Inc., 701 So. 2d 386 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997); Castillo v. Sally Beauty Co., Inc., 637 So. 2d 269 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994). We are constrained to reiterate the oft-stated maxim that misconduct serious…
  • Flint v. Fla. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n, 79 So. 3d 115 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012)
    …udgment [that] does not amount to misconduct sufficient to support the denial of unemployment compensation benefits.” Fenelus v. Publix Super Mkts., Inc., 727 So. 2d 274, 274 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999) (quoting Navarrete v. Fla. Unemployment Appeals Comm’n, 726 So. 2d 833, 834 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999)). See also Kelley v. Pueblo Wholesale Co., 627 So. 2d 534 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993) (recognizing that this Court consistently has held that an exercise of poor judgment does not amount to “misconduct”). Although Flint’s action was i…
  • Garcia v. Viking Life-Saving Equip. Am., Inc., 728 So. 2d 295 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999)
    …Unemployment Appeals Commission, it is obvious that this single mistake does not rise to the level of the “misconduct” required to deprive a former employee of unemployment compensation benefits. See Navarrete v. Florida Unemployment Appeals Comm’n, 726 So. 2d 833 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999); Delaney v. Unemployment Appeals Comm’n, 720 So. 2d 320 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998); Barnes v. Unemployment Appeals Comm’n, 717 So. 2d 120 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998); Savage v. Macy’s East, Inc., 719 So. 2d 1208, 1209 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998), and eas…

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