Case Name: Ernesto MONCALEANO, Appellant, v. FLORIDA UNEMPLOYMENT APPEALS, etc., et al., Appellees
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 2004-10-06
Citations: 883 So. 2d 899
Docket Number: No. 3D03-718
Parties: Ernesto MONCALEANO, Appellant, v. FLORIDA UNEMPLOYMENT APPEALS, etc., et al., Appellees.
Judges: Before COPE, GODERICH, and SHEPHERD, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 883
Pages: 899–902

Head Matter:
Ernesto MONCALEANO, Appellant, v. FLORIDA UNEMPLOYMENT APPEALS, etc., et al., Appellees.
No. 3D03-718.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.
Oct. 6, 2004.
Ernesto Moncaleano, in proper person.
John D. Maher, for appellees.
Before COPE, GODERICH, and SHEPHERD, JJ.

Opinion:
SHEPHERD, J.
We are confronted here with a claimant seeking unemployment compensation benefits after violating his hotel-employers policy by secretly smoking in non-designated areas and eating food and beverage created for guest use. We affirm the decision of the Unemployment Appeals Commission which found no error with the findings of the Appeals Referee.
In this case, the claimant, Ernesto Moncaleano, was a hotel banquet waiter. The hotel had policies barring employee use of guest items without permission from hotel authority, as well as smoking in non-designated areas and the taking of unauthorized breaks. The hotel strictly prohibited employees from taking food items created for guest use, and even accommodated employees needs by providing an employees cafeteria. The claimant concedes that group meetings were held, and handbooks distributed in which he was made aware of these policies.
The claimants first warning came in 1994 as a result of smoking in a non-designated area. The claimant was again apprised of hotel policy in March 2002, when he was caught eating food designated for hotel guests. As a consequence of claimants conduct, he was suspended for two days. Three months later, a supervisor found the claimant taking an unauthorized break in a nearby stairwell. A soiree from that evening was winding down, and the claimant made for himself a cola in a high ball glass from the party. He was sitting on a guest towel, with the cola in one hand and an unlit cigarette in the other. He was told to go home by his supervisor, and was subsequently fired.
In his defense, the claimant explained to the Appeals Referee that he had neither sipped the cola nor inhaled the cigarette braced between his fingers. The claimant maintained that he was an incidental beneficiary of a soft guest towel left in the stairwell for days by an unknown factor. He also tried absolution by pointing to other waiters with whom he had previously congregated in the dark recesses of the hotel, taking cigarette breaks in violation of known company policy. The claimant believed he was being singled out, but could not name one single employee who had not been discharged as a result of the same conduct. The Appeals Referee found that the claimant was discharged due to misconduct, and denied him unemployment compensation benefits. The Unemployment Appeals Commission affirmed the ruling. This appeal follows.
Moncaleano's "consistent refusal to abide by his employers appropriate instructions was properly found in deliberate violation or disregard of standards of behavior which the employer had the right to expect . "' Zorrilla v. Florida Unemployment Appeals Comm'n, 645 So.2d 1078 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994), citing § 443.036(26), Fla. Stat. (1993). This court has held that failure to follow the requests and admonitions of immediate supervisors is a legitimate basis for discharge on the basis of misconduct. Bozzo v. Safelite Glass Corp., 654 So.2d 1042 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995). See also Rubido v. Brinks, Inc., 601 So.2d 1298 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992) (deliberate violation of company rules deemed misconduct). In this case, the claimants actions were clearly more than an isolated incident of poor judgment. In fact, Moncaleanos case can be distinguished by his running history of repeated warnings, as opposed to the cases for first-time, usually trivial violation of company policy. Zorrilla, 645 So.2d at 1078. Claimant admits that he was aware of the hotels policy on non-designated-area smoking and consuming guest food and beverages. Claimant admits that he was previously warned about the cigarettes and placed on a two-day suspension regarding the ingestion of an hors d'oeuvre. Despite said notice, the claimant bypassed hotel policy by making his next violation more spectacular than his last. And, if these three instances were not enough, claimant certainly does not help his cause by admitting to the Appeals Referee that he and other waiters would, on occasion, abuse the employers policies by fraternizing and smoking in the stairwell. His protest that he "neither sipped nor inhaled," but was just pondering options while resting on a conveniently found guest towel, are hardly the ruminations of one guilty of a thought less mishap. Moncaleano's confessions prove that he was familiar with the expectations of his employer, yet he knowingly disregarded same.
Unemployment Appeals Commission decisions are entitled to a presumption of correctness on appeal and will not be disturbed if supported by competent, substantial evidence. See Garcia v. Florida Unemployment Appeals Comm'n, 872 So.2d 966, 969 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004); Nisbet v. Publix Super Markets, Inc., 769 So.2d 1120, 1121 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000). "In reviewing whether the record contains substantial competent evidence to support the appeals referee's findings, the District Court of Appeal cannot make determinations as to credibility or substitute its judgment for that of the referee.... Thus, the appeals referee's decision must be upheld where there is substantial competent evidence to support it." Szniatkiewicz v. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n, 864 So.2d 498, 502 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004); San Roman v. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n, 711 So.2d 93, 95 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998). We find that there is substantial competent evidence to support the decision of the Unemployment Appeals Commission. See Florida Industrial Commission v. Nordin, 101 So.2d 890, 891 (Fla. 1st DCA 1958).
Affirmed.
COPE, J., concurs.