Court Opinion

ID: 9652500
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 17:24:47.75945+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:12:45.978644
License: Public Domain

CLIFFORD H. AHRENS, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. The uncontra-dicted evidence in this case shows that Claimant violated Employer’s substance abuse policy. The toxicology report, certified by a medical review officer, who was a medical doctor, confirmed that Claimant tested positive for marijuana metabolite. Under Employer’s substance abuse policy, which was published to its employees, a confirmed, positive test result “shall be grounds for discipline, up to and including termination, even for the first offense.”
Although respondents have not favored this court with briefs, it is clear from the record that Claimant has not challenged the reasonableness of Employer’s substance abuse policy. Employer’s policy sets out reasonable and clearly articulated standards of behavior. The policy also makes it clear to employees that violation of such standards constitutes grounds for termination of employment. In my opinion, violation of such standards also constitutes “misconduct connected with the claimant’s work” under section 288.050 RSMo 2000.1
Section 288.050 does not define “misconduct connected with the claimant’s work.” Missouri Courts have defined such misconduct as:
an act of wanton or willful disregard of the employer’s interest, a deliberate violation of the employer’s rules, a disregard of standards of behavior which the employer has the right to expect of his employee, or negligence in such degree or recurrence as to manifest culpability, wrongful intent, or evil design or show an intentional and substantial disregard of the employer’s interest or of the employee’s duties and obligations to the employer.
City of Kansas City v. Arthur, 998 S.W.2d 870, 873 (Mo.App.1999) (citation omitted). Under that definition, violation of a reasonable work rule can constitute misconduct. Hurlbut v. Labor and Industrial Relations Comm’n, 761 S.W.2d 282, 285 (Mo.App.1988) (finding a violation of employer’s accounting procedures requiring verification of cash on hand at beginning of shift); Koret of California, Inc. v. Zimmerman, 941 S.W.2d 886 (Mo.App.1997) (finding a violation of employer’s policies and procedures for accounting and cash management, store security, pricing and product display).
The majority attempts to distinguish these cases because they dealt with an employee’s on-the-job responsibilities rather than “off-duty conduct with no demonstrable impact on or connection with the Claimant’s on-the-job responsibilities.” (Maj. Op. at p. 134). The majority opinion ignores the plain language of Employer’s substance abuse policy in the present case, which specifically provides that the objective is “to ensure a safe, healthy, and *137productive work place for Baldor employees.” The policy makes it clear that it “is not intended to monitor off-duty conduct of employees or to regulate their private lives. The Company respects the privacy of its people. Baldor must, however, have a skilled, conscientious and alert work force.” It is apparent that Employer’s substance abuse policy was an “on-the-job responsibility” as much as other duties in an employee’s job description.
Since there is no challenge in this case to the reasonableness of Employer’s substance abuse policy, it is undisputed that Employer has a written policy known to Claimant which sets definitive standards of conduct which it deems necessary to “ensure a safe, healthy, and productive work place.” Violation of these standards constitutes a “disregard of standards of behavior which the employer has the right to expect” of its employee, and is therefore “misconduct connected with the claimant’s work” within the meaning of section 288.050.
The majority opinion recognizes that Claimant violated Employer’s substance abuse policy. But the majority finds that “a reasonable work rule” serves only as a “relevant factor” in determining whether the behavior constitutes misconduct connected with work. The majority imposes an additional requirement in order for Employer to meet its burden of proving misconduct connected with the Claimant’s work under section 288.050, by requiring that Employer produce evidence that, in addition to violation of the policy, Claimant’s off-duty exposure to marijuana had some demonstrable impact on her ability to fulfill her on-the-job responsibilities. I disagree. The violation of an employer’s reasonable substance abuse policy meets the well-established definition Missouri courts have adopted, in that it constitutes “disregard of standards of behavior which the employer has the right to expect” of its employee, and is thus “misconduct connected with the claimant’s work.”
The majority opinion cites several cases from other jurisdictions requiring evidence of impairment of work performance (Maj. Opin. at p. 184-35). Other jurisdictions with similar statutory language as Missouri impose no such requirement and hold that violation of a reasonable substance abuse policy constitutes “misconduct connected with work.”
In a case factually similar to this one, involving an employee who was exposed to second-hand smoke in a place where other people were smoking marijuana, an appellate court in Louisiana held that:
Plaintiffs admission that he voluntarily exposed himself to an environment in which illegal drugs were being smoked is sufficient to describe his conduct as a willful or wanton disregard for the employer’s interest or a direct disregard of standards of behavior which the employer has the right to expect from his employees ....
Eugene v. Administrator, Div. of Employment Security, 525 So.2d 1185, 1187 (La.Ct.App.1988).
A positive drug test in violation of a company policy prohibiting any detectable level of drugs in the body has been found to constitute misconduct which disqualifies an employee from unemployment benefits because it represents a deliberate violation of employer’s rules and willful and wanton disregard of the standard of behavior which employer had a right to expect of an employee. Grace Drilling Company v. Director of Labor, et al, 31 Ark.App. 81, 790 S.W.2d 907, 909 (1990).
The Oklahoma Supreme Court adopted the holding of the Arkansas appellate court in Grace, supra, recognizing that “a policy to promote on-the-job safety should be supported,” and held that “where an employer shows that it fired a former employee for failing a drug test, which test *138was part of a program to promote safety in the employer’s work place, the former employee is disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits.” Farm Fresh Dairy, Inc. v. Blackburn, et al, 841 P.2d 1150, 1153 (Okl.1992).2 The Oklahoma court further held that “Under such circumstances, the Commission may not require the employer to make any further showing, such as impairment or strange conduct on the job.” Id.
A Claimant’s admission that he had again smoked marijuana, in violation of an agreement with employer to remain drug-free, following his return to work after a prior drug rehabilitation, was held to constitute “willful misconduct” under Pennsylvania law. Szostek v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 116 Pa. Cmwlth. 7, 541 A.2d 48 (1988). The Pennsylvania court held that, although the term “willful misconduct” was not defined by statute, Claimant’s conduct met the judicial definition of such misconduct, because “it represents a deliberate violation of an employer rule as well as a disregard of standards of behavior which Employer had a right to expect of his employee....” Id. at 50. The Court rejected the claimant’s argument that his use of marijuana was off-the-job and that no evidence was presented that Claimant’s marijuana use affected his job performance, and held that where the employer discharged Claimant for violation of a specific condition of employment, “findings of fact pertaining to the nature of claimant’s drug use and its direct effect upon job performance are not required.” Id. at 51.
Off-the-job conduct which resulted in a positive drug test in violation of an employer’s rule or policy was held by the Nevada Supreme Court to constitute “misconduct connected with his work” under Nevada law, where the employer’s rule or policy “has a reasonable relationship to the work to be performed” and where there has been an “intentional violation or willful disregard of that rule or policy.” Clevenger v. Nevada Employment Security Department, 105 Nev. 145, 770 P.2d 866, 868 (1989).
Use of cocaine prior to reporting for work, in violation of a company policy, was held to constitute a deliberate violation of employer’s policy and indicated a disregard of the standards of behavior which the employer had a right to expect. Overstreet v. Illinois Department of Employment Security, 168 Ill.App.3d 24, 118 Ill. Dec. 730, 522 N.E.2d 185 (1988).3
In this case, the majority concludes, “[t]he only evidence of misconduct connected with Claimant’s work was her test result indicating a level of 25 mg/nl of marijuana metabolites in her urine.” (Maj. Op. at p. 135). Since this violated employer’s *139substance abuse policy, the violation alone is sufficient to invoke the waiting period for unemployment benefits under section 288.050. But the majority opinion additionally requires expert testimony or other explanations demonstrating that Claimant’s level of drugs impaired her on-the-job responsibilities. Such evidence should not be required where there is no challenge to the reasonableness of Employer’s substance abuse policy. Such expert testimony might be relevant or necessary in a case where there was a dispute as to whether Employer’s policy had a reasonable relationship to the work to be performed. That issue is not involved in this case, and no such expert testimony was necessary.
To judicially engraft an additional requirement of proof of on-the-job impairment onto Employer’s burden of proof will destroy the benefits of a “bright-line”, clearly articulated, and published substance abuse policy. In addition, it will promote decisions and litigation on unemployment benefits based upon a vague and uncertain standard of whether that employee was impaired in performing “on-the-job responsibilities.” Compliance with a reasonable substance abuse policy should be an “on-the-job responsibility” of every worker.
Claimant admitted that she voluntarily exposed herself to second-hand marijuana smoke on the weekends during social gatherings with her friends and acquaintances. She had a positive drug test in violation of a specific standard of behavior contained in employer’s substance abuse policy. This evidence established that Claimant disregarded standards of behavior, which Employer had the right to expect of Claimant. As a result, Claimant was disqualified from receiving unemployment compensation benefits under section 288.050.2 because claimant was “discharged for misconduct connected with the claimant’s work.”
I would reverse the decision of the Commission 4, and remand with instructions to enter a decision that Claimant was disqualified from receiving unemployment compensation benefits under section 288.050.2.

. All subsequent statutory citations are to RSMo 2000 unless otherwise specified.

. Although Farm Fresh Dairy, Inc. involved a commercial truck driver subject to an employer’s federally mandated drug policy, the Oklahoma Supreme Court specifically rejected the reasoning of the Oklahoma Court of Appeals in a case involving a derrick hand worker. Grace Drilling Co. v. Novotny, 811 P.2d 907 (Okla.App.1991). The Oklahoma Supreme Court stated in Farm Fresh Dairy that although the "important public policy requiring commercial drivers to remain drug free did not come into play” in Novotny, it nevertheless found that Novotny "too narrowly restricts an employer who sets up a drug testing program as a safety measure for its employees and others.” Farm Fresh Dairy, 841 P.2d at 1152, 1153. Thus, the holding in Farm Fresh Dairy was not limited to employers with federally mandated drug policies.

. Illinois later, by statute, defined "misconduct” as "the deliberate and willful violation of a reasonable rule or policy of the employing unit, governing the individual's behavior in performance of his work, provided such violation has harmed the employing unit or other employees or has been repeated by the individual despite a warning or other explicit instruction from the employing unit.” 820 ILCS 405/602 (formerly cited as Ill.Rev.Stat. Ch. 48, para. 432 (1991)). See Robinson v. Department of Employment Security, 264 Ill.*139App.3d 659, 202 Ill.Dec. 92, 637 N.E.2d 631, 633 (1994).

. The Commission, by a vote of 2 to 1, adopted the decision of the Appeals Tribunal, which had reversed a deputy’s determination. The Commission found that Claimant was not disqualified for benefits by reason of her discharge from work. Commission member Wrigley dissented, stating in part, "[w]hatever Claimant's explanation may be, she tested positive for drugs in violation of the employer’s rules. The employer has a right to expect its employees to work without illegal or illicit drugs in their systems. Claimant has disregarded the employer’s interest in having these standards of behavior.”