Case Name: Diane R. WYCHE, Appellant, v. FLORIDA UNEMPLOYMENT APPEALS COMMISSION, and Southeast Bank, N.A., Appellees
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1985-05-21
Citations: 469 So. 2d 184
Docket Number: No. 84-1520
Parties: Diane R. WYCHE, Appellant, v. FLORIDA UNEMPLOYMENT APPEALS COMMISSION, and Southeast Bank, N.A., Appellees.
Judges: Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and BASKIN and JORGENSON, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 469
Pages: 184–188

Head Matter:
Diane R. WYCHE, Appellant, v. FLORIDA UNEMPLOYMENT APPEALS COMMISSION, and Southeast Bank, N.A., Appellees.
No. 84-1520.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.
May 21, 1985.
Mark Alan LeVine, Donald M. Papy, Miami, for appellant.
John D. Maher, Steel, Hector & Davis and Patricia Lowry Dupree, Tallahassee, for appellees.
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and BASKIN and JORGENSON, JJ.

Opinion:
BASKIN, Judge.
Diane R. Wyche appeals an order entered by the Florida Unemployment Appeals Commission [Commission] disqualifying her from receiving unemployment compensation benefits. We reverse.
Southeast Bank, N.A., [Bank] fired its employee, Wyche, following a fight involving Wyche and her supervisor. Wyche filed a claim for Florida Unemployment Compensation benefits. When the Bureau of Unemployment Compensation ruled Wyche disqualified because her discharge was based on misconduct connected with her work, Wyche duly appealed. After hearing the matter, an appeals referee determined that Wyche had pushed her su pervisor after the supervisor hit Wyche. The referee stated:
The claimant testified that she pushed the supervisor only after the supervisor poked her nose. Thus, the claimant was provoked by the supervisor into fighting. The fight continued when the supervisor started swinging her fists at the claimant. Under these circumstances, the claimant's actions are not considered misconduct. Accordingly, it is held that the claimant was discharged but not for misconduct connected with the work.
Thereafter, Wyche entered a plea of no contest to a county court criminal charge of battery on her supervisor. Armed with the evidence of Wyche's plea, the Bank appealed the referee's decision to the Commission. The Commission concluded that Wyche's subsequent plea established her misconduct in connection with her employment, reversed the referee's ruling, and disqualified Wyche from receiving benefits.
In reviewing the Commission's decision, we must decide whether the Commission applied the correct standard of review to the referee's decision. The Commission may reverse an appeals referee's findings of facts and conclusions of law only in the absence of competent substantial evidence supporting the referee's determinations. Forkey & Kirsch, P.A. v. Unemployment Appeals Commission, 407 So.2d 319 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981); David Clark & Associates v. Kennedy, 390 So.2d 149 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980); Taylor v. State, Department of Labor & Employment Security, 383 So.2d 1126 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980). The Commission did not refute the referee's finding that Wyche was provoked into fighting or rule that the referee's decision was not based on substantial competent evidence; instead, the Commission declared that Wyche's subsequent plea of no contest to the charge of battery constituted sufficient evidence in and of itself to establish "misconduct connected with her work." We believe the Commission erred in interpreting the applicable law and that its decision requires reversal.
Section 443.101(1), Florida Statutes (1983), disqualifies an individual for benefits when the individual is discharged from employment for misconduct in connection with work. Section 443.101(9)(a), Florida Statutes (1983), provides disqualification for benefits if the individual was terminated for violation of a criminal law in connection with his employment and "the individual . has entered a plea of no contest."
Although the Commission' may entertain additional evidence when considering the findings and conclusions of the appeals referee, section 443.151(4)(c), Florida Statutes (1983), its use of a subsequent no contest plea is subject to limitations.
Traditionally, the entry of a plea of nolo contendere has been given no evi-dentiary effect beyond the action in which it was entered.... Despite the relaxation of the strict rules of evidence which is permitted by Section 120.-58(l)(a), Florida Statutes (1975), we do not believe that evidence of a nolo con-tendere plea would be admissible as evidence of guilt in an administrative proceeding any more than it would be in court.
Holland v. Florida Real Estate Commission, 352 So.2d 914 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977). A plea of no contest represents only an unwillingness to contest a charge. Vinson v. State, 345 So.2d 711, 714 (Fla.1977); Chesebrough v. State, 255 So.2d 675 (Fla.1971), cert. denied 406 U.S. 976, 92 S.Ct. 2427, 32 L.Ed.2d 676 (1972). It does not constitute an admission of guilt and may not be used as direct evidence of guilt in a civil suit. See Fisher v. Wainwright, 584 F.2d 691 (5th Cir.1978) (plea of nolo contendere may not be used in subsequent civil litigation); Chesebrough (plea of nolo contendere may not be used in civil suit as admission of facts charged in complaint). See also § 90.410, Fla.Stat. (1983). Accordingly, a no contest plea does not establish misconduct in employment under section 443.-101(1) or violation of a criminal law under section 443.101(9)(a).
We therefore conclude that the Commission's reliance on Wyche's subse quent no contest plea as the sole basis for overturning the referee's finding of no misconduct in connection with work constituted an erroneous interpretation of a provision of law requiring reversal. See White v. School Board of Dade County, 466 So.2d 1141 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985); Gershanik v. Department of Professional Regulation, Board of Medical Examiners, 458 So.2d 302 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984); Cohen v. School Board of Dade County, 450 So.2d 1238 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984).
For these reasons we reverse the Commission's order and remand the cause with directions to enter an order approving unemployment compensation benefits for Wyche.
SCHWARTZ, C.J., concurs.