California Code of Regulations › Title 22 - Social Security › Division 1 - Employment Development Department › Subdivision 1 - Director of Employment Development › Division 1 - Unemployment and Disability Compensation › Part 1 - Unemployment Compensation › Chapter 5 - UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION BENEFITS › Article 1 - ELIGIBILITY AND DISQUALIFICATIONS › Section 1256-39 - Discharge for Misconduct -Relations with Other Employees

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a) Scope. This section relates to discharge
						  from the most recent work for misconduct due to some unsatisfactory
						  relationship of an employee with co-workers (see Section
						  1256-36 of these regulations for
						  discussion of relationships of an employee to the employer or supervisors).
						  Section 1256-30 of these regulations sets
						  forth general principles also applicable under this section.
(b) General. Some unsatisfactory relations of
						  an employee with co-workers involve an employee's deliberate acts which may
						  constitute a wanton disregard of an employee's duty to the employer and
						  substantially injure or tend to injure the employer's interest without regard
						  to whether the employee has been given prior warnings or reprimands concerning
						  similar acts. This type of misconduct can include an employee's inexcusable
						  fighting on the job with co-workers, use of offensive language in relations
						  with co-workers, or dishonesty on the job towards co-workers.
On the other hand, other acts of an employee in
							 relation to co-workers may be negligent in nature and may cause less severe or
							 minimal damage to the employer's interests. This type of conduct usually will
							 not be misconduct unless the employee persists in the conduct after prior
							 warnings or reprimands for similar acts. This type of act arises in cases of
							 annoying co-workers, failing to pay debts to co-workers resulting in fights or
							 controversy, or failing to cooperate with co-workers in performing the
							 work.
(c) Deliberate Wanton
						  Disregard of Employer's Interests.
(1)
						  Fighting on the Job. Fighting with co-workers on the job is misconduct if the
						  employee has provoked an attack or is the aggressor, regardless of provocation.
						  Fighting on the job is not misconduct if an employee who is attacked on the job
						  without provocation defends himself or herself against an attack.
EXAMPLE 1. A, a taxicab driver, signaled for a left
							 turn when B, a fellow employee, drove over a double line, cut in front of A's
							 cab, and drove into a taxi stand. A decided to report the incident and
							 therefore talked to another co-worker to ask if the co-worker had seen the
							 incident. B objected and grabbed A and struck a blow which A deflected. A moved
							 away. B charged A again. A in self-defense knocked B to the ground. The
							 employer discharged A.
A did not seek or provoke a fight with B. A's acts
							 were reasonable and proper and A's self-defense was not misconduct.
EXAMPLE 2. D became irritated when co-employee C
							 deliberately placed a filled tile container on D's hand truck of empty
							 containers. D swore at C and slammed the container down in front of C, nearly
							 hitting C. C thereupon hurled pieces of tile at D and injured D. The employer
							 discharged C.
C had substantial provocation for attacking D, but
							 this does not excuse C's fighting on the job. C's acts were not in self-defense
							 and were misconduct.
(2)
						  Offensive Oral Statements. An employee's acts constitute misconduct if the
						  employee addresses a co-worker on the job in vulgar, profane, abusive, obscene,
						  derogatory, or offensive language of a vile nature if the language is
						  unjustified and not within the normal exchange and customary good-natured
						  banter between employees.
COMMENTS. Normal practices in the establishment where
							 the employee is employed and the circumstances under which oral statements were
							 made are relevant to whether misconduct is involved. Language used in a machine
							 shop or a warehouse may not be appropriate language in a bank, department
							 store, or government office. The normal exchange among workers differs
							 according to the occupation. Vulgar language is also used among employees in
							 some occupations as friendly banter. The circumstances under which the employee
							 makes oral statements are taken into consideration.
EXAMPLE 3. In an industrial establishment, a woman
							 employee asked E for certain supplies. E was unable to give her immediate
							 service. E believed that the woman employee complained to her supervisor about
							 the incident. When E saw the woman employee later in the day E said, "Some
							 people sure are asinine." The woman employee complained to the employer. The
							 employer discharged E for using alleged abusive and profane language.
E's statement was not misconduct because it was not
							 abusive or profane and did not go beyond the customary give and take between
							 employees in an industrial establishment.
EXAMPLE 4. F waved an open pocket knife at a
							 co-worker and stated, "This blade would reach your heart. You could be lying on
							 the floor dead." The co-worker was frightened and intimidated. F later
							 apologized and declared that F was joking. The employer discharged F due to the
							 incident.
F's act was well beyond normal banter, disrupted
							 order on the job, and was misconduct.
(3) Dishonesty to Co-workers. An employee who
						  engages in dishonest conduct on the job affecting co-workers, such as stealing
						  the tools or other personal property of a co-worker on the job, commits an act
						  of misconduct.