Court Opinion

ID: 9628181
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 09:10:18.217888+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:06:59.036572
License: Public Domain

WREN, Judge,
dissenting.
I must respectfully dissent. The record is clear that during the course of his seven month employment the claimant received two warnings for absenteeism. The first of these warnings cited three unexcused absences and the second recited the company rule that “one additional unexcused absence within six months following the date of this warning will result in your discharge.” Claimant admits signing both the warning notices. He then breached another company rule by not having a licensed physician’s excuse; and, as a result, was terminated for having five unexcused absences. It is thus *395clear, as determined by the trial court, that claimant had engaged in a “course of conduct” of absenteeism in violation of company rules, rather than just a “technical breach” by reason of the last absence alone.
The majority opinion concludes that since Magma presented no evidence as to the facts surrounding the prior absences, other than that they were considered to be unexcused, it had not met its burden of proving any misconduct as to them. This finding misses the point. Claimant does not contend that his previous absences were “excused”. The reasons for the absences, i. e., whether illness of the family or otherwise, has no bearing on whether the absences were, in fact, “unexcused” as applied to Company Rule 5.4, set forth in the majority opinion.
The opinion is also bottomed on the fact that claimant had not read the Magma Rules Booklet and was therefore not aware that chiropractors were not acceptable as verification for an excused absence. Therefore, the decision continues, the last absence could not constitute the requisite “willful or negligent misconduct connected with his work within the meaning of § 23-775.” I submit that such a determination flies in the face of the Arizona Department of Economic Security’s Benefit Policy Rule ACCR-R6-3-51485A that:
“an employee, discharged for violating a company rule, generally is considered discharged for misconduct connected with the work. This principle is based on the theory that when hired, an employee agrees to abide by the rules of his employer . . In order for misconduct connected with the work to be found it must be determined that the claimant knew or should have known of the rule and that the rule is reasonable and uniformly enforced.” (emphasis supplied.)
I would therefore ask this question: Can an employee now escape disqualification from benefits for non-compliance with his employer’s work rules by merely stating that he has not read them, and that therefore a violation could not be deemed willful.
Moreover, in my opinion, whether or not the last absence from work constituted misconduct is irrelevant. Under Benefit Policy Rule ACRR-R6-3-5105A.1, as noted in footnote three of the opinion, a course of conduct in violation of an employee’s duties, which is tantamount to a disregard of the employer’s interest, is misconduct; and that is precisely what the superior court determined when it referred to the “record of unexcused absences.” Clearly, a record of absenteeism may constitute willful misconduct disqualifying a claimant for unemployment benefits under A.R.S. § 23 — 775(2). See 58 A.L.R.3d § 3, Unemployment Compensation Absenteeism, 76 Am.Jur.2d § 58, Unemployment Compensation. In my opinion the decision of the Department which referenced only the last incident, was arbitrary and capricious as a matter of law.
I would affirm the judgment of the trial court.