Case Name: Harry J. HYPOLITE, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Cecil BLACHE, Administrator For the Division of Employment Security of the State of La., et al., Defendants-Appellants
Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1986-02-05
Citations: 482 So. 2d 940
Docket Number: No. 84-966
Parties: Harry J. HYPOLITE, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Cecil BLACHE, Administrator For the Division of Employment Security of the State of La., et al., Defendants-Appellants.
Judges: Before DOMENGEAUX, LABORDE and KING, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 482
Pages: 940–945

Head Matter:
Harry J. HYPOLITE, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Cecil BLACHE, Administrator For the Division of Employment Security of the State of La., et al., Defendants-Appellants.
No. 84-966.
Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.
Feb. 5, 1986.
Writ Denied March 31, 1986.
Onebane & Assoc., Robert W. Daigle, Lafayetee, for defendants-appellants.
Sidney P. Landry, Jr., Lafayette, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
Denise A. Nagel, Baton Rouge, for defendant-appellee.
Before DOMENGEAUX, LABORDE and KING, JJ.

Opinion:
LABORDE, Judge.
This is a suit for judicial review of an administrative agency denial of unemployment benefits. The Office of Employment Security for the Louisiana Department of Labor (the Department) decided that the claimant, Harry J. Hypolite, was ineligible to receive unemployment benefits because he had been discharged for misconduct connected with his employment. LSA-R.S. 23:1601(2). The Department's determination was affirmed by an appeals referee and reaffirmed by the board of review.
The district court reversed the board of review, ordering the defendant administrator to pay unemployment benefits to Hypol-ite. Hypolite's employer, Martin Mills, Inc., appeals the decision of the district court. The Department prays that the judgment be affirmed. We affirm.
Pursuant to LSA-R.S. 23:1634, the findings of the board of review as to the facts, if supported by sufficient evidence and in the absence of fraud, are conclusive and the jurisdiction of the district court is confined to questions of law. Vancouver Plywood Company, Inc. v. Sumrall, 415 So.2d 625, 628 (La.App.3d Cir.1982). There is no allegation of fraud, and our review of the record convinces us that the appeals referee's findings of facts are supported by sufficient evidence. We must therefore determine whether, in light of the established facts, the district court erred in concluding as a matter of law that the claimant is entitled to unemployment compensation benefits.
We accept as conclusive the appeals referee's findings of fact, which are reproduced below:
"The claimant worked for this employer from May 13, 1974, to October 11, 1982, as a knitter, earning $6.02 per hour. His pay was based on an hourly rate, plus production. He was scheduled to work from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, or during the latter part of his employment as scheduled. During his employment, the claimant had been counseled on several occasions in regards to his failure to meet his production quota. He was told a primary factor was because he did not keep the machines assigned to him clean and this caused them to stop automatically and this would slow down his production. During the latter part of claimant's employment, the supervisor in charge of claimant's unit spent a considerable amount of time with the claimant in order to try to salvage him, as he was considered as having good potentials [sic]. The claimant was told on many occasions by Mr. Lee to keep his machines properly cleaned. During the last two weeks of claimant's employment, Mr. Lee was off work due to surgery, and Mr. Thomasee, the substitute supervisor, suspended the claimant for three days for failing to meet production. On his last day of work the claimant was given specific instructions at approximately 10:00 a.m. to clean his assigned machines that day. At about 3:00 p.m. Mr. Thomasee noticed that the claimant had not cleaned the machines. The claimant maintained at the hearing that he had not done so because he was trying to meet his production quota. The claimant reported for work the next morning and was informed by Mr. Tho-masee that he was being discharged from the employment for failing to clean the machines as instructed and failing to meet production quotas."
It is apparent that, on the day prior to his discharge, claimant Hypolite was facing what he perceived to be a no-win situation. Shortly before the incident immediately precipitating his discharge, he had been suspended from work for failing to meet his production quota. Fearing another suspension, claimant resisted his substitute supervisor's directive, intending thereby to serve Martin Mills' broader interest: producing cloth material. The incident no doubt gave Martin Mills grounds (though none are needed; La.Civ.Code art. 2747) for dismissing the claimant. But the word "misconduct" in LSA-R.S. 23:1601 is used to connote intentional wrongdoing. Thus, an employee can be unsatisfactory to the employer without being guilty of disqualifying misconduct. Banks v. Administrator of Dept. of Employment, 393 So.2d 696 (La.1981).
An employee's failure to follow a direct order of his supervisor can constitute misconduct under LSA-R.S. 23:1601(2) which would disqualify claimant from receiving unemployment compensation benefits. And we recognize the employer's argument that, had claimant Hypolite stopped to clean his machine per the supervisor's instruction, the productivity of the machine would, in the long run, have been enhanced. Nonetheless, the facts do not portray an employee engaged in deliberate conduct intended to harm his employer's interests. We distinguish this case from those involving, for example, an employee habitually engaged in disruptive behavior which slows down his and his coworkers' production efforts. See, e.g., Cole v. Dogal, 195 So.2d 759 (La.App.3d Cir.1967); Black v. Sumrall, 413 So.2d 252 (La.App. 4th Cir.1982).
We accept as a matter of fact that claimant did fail to follow a direct order of his supervisor, but note that claimant deemed his course of behavior necessary under the circumstances to comply with what he perceived as a superseding responsibility. Erroneous or not, the claimant's decision not to immediately clean his machine was an exercise of poor judgment, not an act constitutive of misconduct as the word has been consistently construed.
We are guided to our conclusion in part because the Department, through its Office of Employment Security, pleaded in its answer to claimant's petition to the district court that the decision of its own board of review be reversed. When the board of review was reversed, the Department did not appeal.
For the above and foregoing reasons, the judgment of the district court is affirmed at the cost of appellant Martin Mills, Inc.
AFFIRMED.
DOMENGEAUX, J., concurs and assigns reasons.
KING, J., dissents for written reasons assigned.
. The board of review in this case did not make independent findings of fact, but rather adopted those of the appeals referee.