Court Opinion

ID: 9855655
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 06:28:55.110032+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:36:17.214619
License: Public Domain

WILLIAM G. CALLOW, J.
(concurring). I agree with the majority that the objective test should be utilized in determining whether an employee’s conduct evinces a willful and substantial disregard of the employer’s interests in order to constitute misconduct within the Boynton Cab definition of that term. I write separately, however, to amplify the test articulated in the majority opinion. The majority states that the correct test in determining whether Boynton Cab “misconduct” has oc*123curred focuses on “what a reasonable person would reasonably believe as to whether a given set of working conditions presented a hazard to health or safety.” (Supra, at 121.)
I believe that the proper standard for testing the alleged misconduct is as follows: Was the employee’s conduct reasonable in light of the facts and circumstances purported to constitute a health or safety hazard? In other words, did the employee act as a reasonable person would have acted under the same or similar conditions? One may have a reasonable belief that a hazard exists, but under Boynton Cab we have directed examination at the conduct which stems from that belief. Although one’s belief that a hazard exists may be reasonable, one’s conduct, in the light of that belief, may not be reasonable.
The majority, in criticizing the court of appeals "actual hazard” test, observes that a “perceived hazard is one of the factors to be considered in the totality of the circumstances considered by the commission . . . .” (Supra at 121.) I would require the commission to make a factual finding, supported by sufficient credible evidence,1 of the existing circumstances which are purported to constitute a health or safety hazard. While finding that an actual health or safety hazard exists is not a condition precedent to a worker’s recovery of unemployment compensation benefits, the circumstances precipitating the worker’s conduct are certainly relevant to the inquiry. I believe that an objective test, by necessity, requires the commission to identify the existing conditions purported to constitute a health or safety hazard. The commission’s assessment of the worker’s conduct must be based upon identifiable reasons articulated in relation to the existing circumstances in the work place. I believe that such inquiry is consistent with prior decisions of this court. In *124Consolidated Construction Co., Inc. v. Casey, 71 Wis. 2d 811, 238 N.W.2d 758 (1976), we remanded to the commission “for a finding of whether [claimant’s] beard was actually a potential hazard under the circumstances of his job.” Id. at 818. We concluded that this factual finding was necessary in order to determine whether an employer’s rule prohibiting beards was reasonable and whether the claimant’s conduct in maintaining the beard constituted misconduct.
Similarly, in Kohler Co. v. Industrial Commission, 272 Wis. 310, 75 N.W.2d 293 (1956), we confronted the issue of whether employees were “too sick to work.” We concluded :
“The question to be determined by the commission was whether the men were sick at the time they left the factory or if they were feigning sickness as claimed by the employer. The question for determination upon these appeals is whether or not there is sufficient evidence in the record to sustain that finding of sickness.” Id. at 321.
The majority has refined the inquiry articulated in the Consolidated and Kohler holdings by concluding that the objective standard is measured by the reasonable person’s belief. I believe those cases illustrate that factual findings on existing conditions purported to constitute a health or safety hazard are essential to the determination of whether the conduct was reasonable.
It bears noting that a factual finding on the existing circumstances compels inquiry regarding any mitigating or remedial actions the employer may have taken to reduce the conditions purported to threaten employee health or safety, as well as any alternatives available to the employee other than leaving his place of employment. We want to encourage employers to take preventive and remedial action to safeguard employees, and often such measures do have a direct bearing on whether employee conduct was reasonable. Thus, a factual finding on *125existing conditions purported to constitute a health or safety hazard includes inquiry regarding any remedial steps an employer may have taken. While an employee’s conduct in leaving the job may be reasonable in view of immediate conditions, it may not be reasonable if the employer is taking appropriate remedial measures which will alleviate the threatening conditions or if the employee is presented with viable alternatives to leaving.
I agree with the majority that an objective test is appropriate to evaluate a worker’s conduct in determining whether unemployment compensation benefits are to be granted. I would direct the commission, however, in evaluating a worker’s conduct pursuant to Boynton Cab to assess whether the claimant’s conduct was reasonable in relation to specific findings concerning the conditions purported to constitute a health or safety hazard. In making specific findings, the commission must consider the employee’s alternatives to leaving the place of employment and any remedial measures taken by the employer to alleviate the purportedly hazardous conditions.

 R.T. Madden, Inc. v. ILHR Dept., 43 Wis.2d 528, 548, 169 N.W. 2d 73 (1969).