Case Name: Jason SAUERLAND, Appellant, v. FLORIDA UNEMPLOYMENT APPEALS COMMISSION, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 2006-03-23
Citations: 923 So. 2d 1240
Docket Number: No. 1D05-1834
Parties: Jason SAUERLAND, Appellant, v. FLORIDA UNEMPLOYMENT APPEALS COMMISSION, Appellee.
Judges: DAVIS, J., concurs.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 923
Pages: 1240–1245

Head Matter:
Jason SAUERLAND, Appellant, v. FLORIDA UNEMPLOYMENT APPEALS COMMISSION, Appellee.
No. 1D05-1834.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.
March 23, 2006.
Jason Sauerland, pro se, for Appellant.
Geri Atkinson-Hazelton, General Counsel; John D. Maher, Deputy General Counsel; Louis A. Gutierrez, Senior Attorney, Tallahassee, for Appellee.

Opinion:
LEWIS, J.
Claimant, Jason Sauerland, appeals a final order of the Unemployment Appeals Commission ("Commission"), which affirmed the appeals referee's ruling that claimant was disqualified from receiving unemployment compensation benefits. Claimant raises two arguments on appeal, only one of which merits discussion. Claimant contends that the Commission erred in ruling that he was discharged for misconduct connected with work. Concluding that the referee's findings are supported by competent, substantial evidence and that the Commission properly interpreted the law, we affirm.
Claimant, who worked as a juvenile detention officer for the employer, was required to perform ten-minute visual checks or rounds of each room he was assigned to monitor and to record those checks in a log book. On September 28, 2004, claimant made log entries at 3:00 a.m., 3:30 a.m., 3:40 a.m., and 3:50 a.m. However, a videotape of claimant's shift showed that claimant did not do rounds at 3:00 a.m., 3:40 a.m., or 3:50 a.m. As the appeals referee found, "Comparison of the content of the tapes and the claimant's log entries revealed at least two logged rounds that did not occur." Claimant admitted to making entries in the log book for rounds that did not occur and did not contest the accuracy of the employer's records. Claimant's supervisor informed claimant that falsification of official records constituted a critical offense that would result in termination. Claimant testified that he was aware of the employer's policy concerning the necessity to conduct rounds every ten minutes, that he attended an employee orientation, and that he received an employee handbook containing his job requirements.
The appeals referee concluded that claimant was discharged for misconduct connected with work and was, thus, disqualified from receiving unemployment compensation benefits. The Commission affirmed the referee's ruling. This appeal followed.
"Misconduct" for purposes of unemployment compensation benefits is defined in section 443.036(29), Florida Statutes (2004), which provides:
"Misconduct" includes, but is not limited to, the following, which may not be construed in pari materia with each other:
(a) Conduct demonstrating willful or wanton disregard of an employer's interests and found to be a deliberate violation or disregard of the standards of behavior which the employer has a right to expect of his or her employee; or
(b) Carelessness or negligence to a degree or recurrence that manifests culpability, wrongful intent, or evil design or shows an intentional and substantial disregard of the employer's interests or of the employee's duties and obligations to his or her employer.
Whether a claimant commits misconduct connected with work is a question of law. Saunders v. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n, 888 So.2d 69, 71-72 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004). An appeals referee's findings of fact must be accepted if supported by competent, substantial evidence. James D. Hinson Elec. Contracting Co. v. Fla. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n, 914 So.2d 1033, 1033 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005).
"[Djishonesty is and should be grounds for dismissal and denial of benefits . " Johnson v. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n, 680 So.2d 1073, 1073 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996). In a case similar to the one at issue, the Fifth District affirmed the Commission's order affirming the appeals referee's ruling that the claimant engaged in misconduct connected with work. See Brooks v. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n, 695 So.2d 879, 881 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997). There, the appeals referee determined that the claimant altered his attendance records to show that he was at work when he had not been and that he knew or should have known that such conduct was a violation of his duties and obligations. Id. at 880. In affirming, the Fifth District found that competent, substantial evidence supported the referee's findings and that the Commission properly interpreted the law. Id. at 881.
Likewise, in Wells v. Florida Unemployment Appeals Commission, 767 So.2d 624, 625 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000), the Third District affirmed the Commission's order affirming the appeals referee's ruling that the claimant was discharged for misconduct connected with work. The Third District noted that there was no question that the claimant committed a dishonest act in connection with his work when he listed information on his employment application that he knew was false. Id. at 625. The Third District agreed with both the appeals referee and the Commission that the claimant's failure to disclose his criminal convictions on his employment application constituted misconduct connected with work. Id.; see also City of Largo v. Rodriguez, 884 So.2d 121, 123 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004) (reversing the Commission's order which reversed the appeals referee's ruling that the claimant was disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits because competent, substantial evidence supported the referee's finding that the claimant was untruthful during a grievance hearing).
Here, as in the foregoing cases, competent, substantial evidence supports the appeals referee's findings. The referee specifically found that claimant was observed making his rounds at intervals in excess of ten minutes and that claimant's log entries revealed at least two rounds that did not occur. Claimant admitted to making entries in the log book for rounds that did not occur. Claimant also testified that he was aware of the employer's policy concerning the necessity to conduct rounds every ten minutes, that he attended an employee orientation, and that he received an employee handbook containing his job requirements.
While the dissent relies upon the rule of law that misconduct sufficient to constitute disqualification from receipt of benefits usually involves repeated violations of explicit policies after several warnings, the cases it cites in support of that proposition are distinguishable from the instant case in that none of them involved dishonesty. See Saunders, 888 So.2d at 70 (holding that the claimant's conduct in leaving children at a child care center unsupervised in order to receive emergency medical treatment did not constitute misconduct connected with work); Riveras v. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n, 884 So.2d 1143, 1144 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004) (holding that the claimant's act in allowing a customer to draw funds from checking and savings accounts opened the previous day in violation of the employer's policy constituted a single act of poor judgment, not misconduct connected with work); Ash v. Fla. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n, 872 So.2d 400, 402 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004) (holding that the claimant's failure to correct her timecard constituted an isolated instance of poor judgment); Thomas v. United Parcel Serv., Inc., 864 So.2d 567, 570 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004) (holding that the claimant's refusal to submit to a search of his bag at work may have been poor judgment but was not misconduct connected with work).
The dissent also relies upon the fact that claimant performed some rounds at seven-minute intervals. However, while claimant made log entries at 3:00 a.m., 3:30 a.m., 3:40 a.m., and 3:50 a.m., the tapes revealed that claimant did not do rounds at 3:00 a.m., 3:40 a.m., or 3:50 a.m. Whether claimant made rounds close to those times does not serve to mitigate claimant's knowing misrepresentation in the log book. Claimant was aware that the ten-minute rounds were a critical part of his job. Claimant's supervisor also informed him that falsification of official records constituted a critical offense that would result in termination. Although the dissent equates claimant's action in falsifying the log book to an act of poor judgment, we cannot agree that claimant's wilful disregard of the employer's interests was anything other than misconduct connected with work.
Accordingly, because the referee's findings are supported by competent, substantial evidence and because the Commission properly interpreted the law in ruling that claimant engaged in misconduct connected with work, the Commission's order is AFFIRMED.
DAVIS, J., concurs.
ERVIN, J., dissents with written opinion.