Case Name: Marvin L. ODOM, Appellant, v. UNEMPLOYMENT APPEALS COMMISSION, et al., Appellees
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1991-10-03
Citations: 586 So. 2d 504
Docket Number: No. 90-1412
Parties: Marvin L. ODOM, Appellant, v. UNEMPLOYMENT APPEALS COMMISSION, et al., Appellees.
Judges: GOSHORN, C.J., concurs.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 586
Pages: 504–507

Head Matter:
Marvin L. ODOM, Appellant, v. UNEMPLOYMENT APPEALS COMMISSION, et al., Appellees.
No. 90-1412.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.
Oct. 3, 1991.
Marvin L. Odom, Cocoa Beach, pro se.
John D. Maher, Tallahassee, for appellee Unemployment Appeals Comm’n.
No Appearance for appellee Mid-Florida Freezer.

Opinion:
PETERSON, Judge.
Marvin Odom appeals an order of the Unemployment Appeals Commission (UAC) reversing a decision of an appeals referee awarding him unemployment benefits. We affirm.
The referee found that:
[Odom] was employed as a fork lift operator and laborer from July 1988 through October 27, 1989. The claimant had no complaints about his work performance until he had a change of supervisors during the latter part of his employment. In July 1989, the claimant had a drum spill while loading a truck and, on two separate occasions in October 1989, he miscounted the loads that he put on the trucks. On October 27, 1989, the claimant was discharged for miscounting the loads on the truck.
On appeal of the award of unemployment benefits, UAC did not disagree with the referee's factual findings but concluded that the decision was not in accordance with the law. UAC found that Odom's conduct involved more than mere carelessness or errors in judgment which have been held not to preclude eligibility for benefits. Rycraft v. United Technologies, 449 So.2d 382 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984) (inefficiency and substandard performance not misconduct where resulting from inability); Gentsch, Larsen, Traad v. Florida Dep't of Labor & Unemployment Security, 390 So.2d 802 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980) (employee, who was discharged because of inability to meet employer's performance level requirement, entitled to unemployment compensation). Instead, UAC stated that Odom deliberately refused to follow specific instructions regarding the method he was to use when loading trucks.
The referee concluded that the poor performance was caused by inability rather than a willful disregard of the employer's interest. During review, the UAC is bound by the findings of fact of a hearing officer so long as competent substantial evidence supports those findings. See Johnston v. Department of Professional Regulation, 456 So.2d 939 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984). Sub judice, the referee made findings that Odom occasionally made errors in his work, but concluded from those factual findings that the employer failed to make any showing that Odom, by such conduct, had willfully or wantonly disregarded his employer's interests.
The issue determinative of this cause is whether Odom's discharge was for misconduct, as found by the UAC, or for mere failure to meet the performance level expected by the employer, as found by the appeals referee. Misconduct is defined by section 443.036(26), Florida Statutes (1989):
"Misconduct" includes, but is not limited to, the following, which shall not be construed in pari materia with each other:
(a) Conduct evincing such willful or wanton disregard of an employer's interests as is found in deliberate violation or disregard of standards of behavior which the employer has the right to expect of his employee; or
(b) Carelessness or negligence of such a degree or recurrence as to manifest culpability, wrongful intent, or evil design or to show an intentional and substantial disregard of the employer's in terests or of the employee's duties and obligations to his employer.
In October 1989, when Odom undercount-ed by thirty-two 832 cases of fish, he was given a reprimand and told to count each and every pallet when he loaded a truck. He was also instructed to get off the forklift after loading a truck and to count the contents of the truck. Evidently, Odom failed to follow these specific instructions. Approximately two weeks later, Odom loaded a truck with forty-four drums of concentrate but indicated instead that he had loaded the truck with the number required by a written order, seventy-six drums.
We believe that the UAC's decision was in accordance with the statute. One could overlook a spill caused when a drum cover dislodges or small discrepancies in counting pallets or drums loaded onto a truck, but not when the discrepancies include a failure to count about 1500 pounds of fish followed two weeks later by a tally showing seventy-six drums of concentrate when the actual count was forty-four. The latter error in counting occurred after Odom already had been given specific instructions to get off the forklift to count each and every pallet loaded. Odom admits in his brief that he had doubts that his count of the pallets of fish was accurate but that he "signed the driver out" because he knew the load was to be delivered to the same buyer and that his decision would not cost his employer any money. These remarks would be more persuasive had Odom noted his concerns when he "signed the driver out" or had immediately called the doubtful count to the attention of his employer. These actions justify a discharge for the statutory reason of intentional and substantial disregard of the employer's interest.
UAC's conclusion was correct. The employee's actions taken together evince a willful and wanton disregard of the employer's interest and a deliberate intent to refuse to follow the employer's reasonable instructions after warning, and such behavior amounts to misconduct connected with work.
AFFIRMED.
GOSHORN, C.J., concurs.
W. SHARP, J., dissents with opinion.
. Earlier, Odom also failed to log the required daily maintenance check on the equipment he operated for a period of one month. When a supervisor inquired about this latter omission, Odom responded that he did not have a pencil.