SHAWNA G. ANDRES, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA UNEMPLOYMENT APPEALS COMMISSION AND ERACLIDES, JOHNS, HALL & GELMAN, EIKNER & JOHANNESSEN, L.L.P., APPELLEES
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An associate at a law firm left her employment to care for her seriously ill 16-month-old child after her employer refused requests for part-time work or a leave of absence. The court held that a family emergency involving a child's serious illness constitutes good cause for voluntarily leaving employment under Florida's unemployment compensation statute, despite the illness not being attributable to the employer.
The court held that a family emergency in the nature of an illness or disability can constitute good cause for leaving a job, even when the illness is not attributable to the employer. Appellant's departure to manage her seriously ill child's medical treatment was good cause, and she is entitled to unemployment compensation benefits.
[1] A family emergency, such as a child's serious illness requiring extensive medical treatment, can constitute good cause for voluntarily leaving employment and qualify for…
[2] An employee's need to attend to a seriously ill child, even if not directly attributable to the employer, may be considered a family emergency providing good cause for qu…
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“an illness or disability of the individual requiring separation from his [or her] work" to be a good cause for voluntarily leaving a job. See § 443.101(1)(a)(1), Fla. Stat. (1995). Courts have extended this statute to authorize a "family emergency" in the nature of an illness or disability to be good cause for leaving a job in some circumstances.”
Establishes that the statute has been judicially extended beyond individual illness to encompass family emergency situations
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellant began employment at a law firm in December 2002 and left in April 2003 when her 16-month-old child became seriously ill with an undiagnosed …
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KLEIN, J.
Appellant, an associate employed by a law firm, requested either a leave of absence or to work part-time, in order to attend to her child who had become seriously ill. When her employer would not agree, she left her employment. The appeals referee concluded that this was a family emergency constituting good cause for leaving her job and awarded benefits. The appeals commission reversed; however, we reinstate the award.
Appellant had begun her employment in December, 2002, but was forced to leave in April, 2003, when her sixteen-month-old child became seriously ill. The doctors were unable to determine whether the child had lupus or juvenile arthritis, and appellant was taking her child to at least four medical specialists each week as well as to therapy.
Appellant asked her employer if she could go to part-time employment, but the employer, after initially being receptive, ultimately decided against it. She also asked for a leave of absence, but the employer advised her she had not been working there long enough to have a leave of absence. She then left her employment in order to manage her child’s treatment.
The appeals referee, who found in favor of appellant, cited Lewis v. Lakeland Health Care Center, Inc., 685 So. 2d 876, 879 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996) and Dean v. Florida Unemployment Appeals Commission, 598 So. 2d 100 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992), which stand for the proposition that an illness of a member of the employee’s family, which amounts to a family emergency, can constitute good cause for voluntarily leaving a job under section 443.101(1)(a)1.
Even though an illness is not factually attributable to one’s employer, the law permits an “illness or disability of the individual requiring separation from his [or her] work” to be a good cause for voluntarily leaving a job. See § 443.101(1)(a)(1), Fla. Stat. (1995). Courts have extended this statute to authorize a “family emergency” in the nature of an illness or disability to be good cause for leaving a job in some circumstances.
Lewis, 685 So. 2d at 879.
This court recently applied the family emergency exception in Szniatkiewicz v. Unemployment Appeals Commission, 864 So. 2d 498 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004), in which an employee of a restaurant had, contrary to the wishes of his employer, gone to Germany for two weeks to attend to his father who had suffered a heart attack.
The appeals commission reversed the award of unemployment benefits, citing section 443.101(1)(a)1, Florida Statutes (2003) which defines good cause for quitting as “only such cause as is attributable to the employing unit or which consists of illness or disability of the individual requiring separation from his or her work.” Because appellant did not leave work due to her own illness or disability, the commission concluded she was not entitled to benefits.
We conclude that the appeals referee correctly applied the family emergency exception to the facts and that appellant is accordingly entitled to unemployment compensation benefits. The order of the commission is accordingly reversed.
FARMER, C.J., and STONE, J., concur.
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Fior A. Ramirez v. Reemployment Assistance Appeals Comm'n, 135 So. 3d 408 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014)…t of Labor & Employment Security, 455 So. 2d 569 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984); Langley v. Unemployment Appeals Comm’n, 444 So. 2d 518 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984); Tucker v. Dep’t of Commerce, 866 So. 2d 845 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979); Andres v. Unemployment Appeals Comm’n, 888 So. 2d 119 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004); Hamilton v. Unemployment Appeals Comm’n, 880 So. 2d 1284 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004); Lewis v. Lakeland Health Care Ctr., Inc., 685 So. 2d 876 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996); Foote v. Unemployment Appeals Comm’n, 659 So. 2d 1282 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995);…
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Jaclyn M. Tittsworth v. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n, 920 So. 2d 139 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006)…eversed for the award of benefits, and the UAC, in its motion for rehearing, argues that two decisions of this court, Szniatkiewicz v. Unemployment Appeals Commission, 864 So. 2d 498 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004) and Andres v. Unemployment Appeals Commission, 888 So. 2d 119 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004), incorrectly authorized benefits where an employee is unable to work because of a family emergency. The UAC argues that an employee who leaves his or her employment in order to take care of an ill family member, without permissio…
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Marchese v. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n & Yellow Book Sales & Distrib. Co., Inc., 946 So. 2d 123 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007)…So. 2d 139, 140 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006). Appellate courts have held that a family emergency exists when an employee needs to take time off from work to care for an ill family member or because a death occurred. See Andres v. Unemployment Appeals Comm’n, 888 So. 2d 119 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004) (holding that a former employee is entitled to benefits after leaving work to care for her ill child). In contrast to those situations, an overwhelming majority of cases have held that leaving work for reasons not related to a m…
Authorities Cited
- Szyja Szniatkiewicz v. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n & Herco Holding Corp., 864 So. 2d 498 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004)
- Lewis v. Lakeland Health Care Ctr., Inc., 685 So. 2d 876 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996)
- Dean v. Fla. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n & Scannavino, Inc., 598 So. 2d 100 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992)