PROJECT HEALTH, INC., APPELLANT,
v.
FLORIDA UNEMPLOYMENT APPEALS COMMISSION, ET AL, APPELLEES
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Project Health, Inc. appealed unemployment benefits awards to four physicians/providers who resigned effective December 31, 2000, after demanding the CEO's termination. The court reversed, finding the providers voluntarily left without good cause attributable to the employer and were therefore disqualified for unemployment benefits.
The providers voluntarily left employment without good cause attributable to Project Health and are disqualified for unemployment benefits. The Commission erred in treating the providers' demand for the CEO's termination as a counteroffer in contract negotiations rather than as the stated condition for their resignation.
[1] An administrative agency's ruling must be supported by competent, substantial evidence.
[2] A resignation is effective according to its express terms when the employer accepts it and the employee provides no withdrawal or clarification.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the Providers voluntarily left their employment without good cause attributable to Project Health and are disqualified for benefits”
Establishes the court's holding regarding disqualification from unemployment benefits
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceOn October 26, 2000, four healthcare providers (three physicians and one physician assistant) sent a resignation letter to Project Health stating they…
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PER CURIAM.
This is an appeal by Appellant Project Health, Inc., the employer, from four separate orders of Appellee Florida Unemployment Appeals Commission entered in favor of employees Kenneth R. Anderson, M.D., Gail E. Bennett, P.A.-C., Carol A. Colvin, M.D., and Sandra W. Lamphier, M.D. (the “Providers”). We reverse the Commission’s rulings because they are not supported by competent, substantial evidence.
The Providers sent a letter dated October 26, 2000 to Project Health indicating they were resigning effective December 31, 2000 unless the CEO of Project Health was terminated. Project Health accepted the resignation letter and asked for written clarification if their resignation was not intended. The resignation letter was not withdrawn and no written clarification was submitted. The Providers’ last date of employment was December 31, 2000.
Although the Providers had been negotiating new employment contracts with Project Health when the Providers sent their resignation letter, the record lacks any evidence showing that the Providers’ demand for the CEO’s termination was a “counteroffer” in the new contract negotiations as ruled by the Commission. Therefore, according to the express language of their resignation letter, the end of Providers’ employment arose because of Project Health’s unwillingness to terminate its CEO rather than Project Health’s demand for new contractual terms as ruled by the Commission.1
Accordingly, the Providers voluntarily left their employment without good cause attributable to Project Health and are disqualified for benefits. See § 443.101(l)(a), Fla. Stat. (2000). Therefore, we reverse the Commission’s orders and remand with instructions to substitute the Appeals Referees’ decisions in Cases 01-4126 and 01-4124, and to enter orders in favor of Appellant in Cases 01-2730 and 01-4129.
BARFIELD, MINER and POLSTON, JJ., concur. . For example, the Appeals Referee in 01-2730, affirmed by the Commission, erroneously stated that the Providers "gave notice on October 26, 2000, that they would be resigning effective December 31, 2000, if the employer continued to demand they enter into the new employment agreement." (Emphasis added). The letter only demands the termination of the CEO and makes no mention of the employer's continued demands for a new employment agreement.