Court Opinion

ID: 9730494
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 15:14:04.616633+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:06.903278
License: Public Domain

SULLIVAN, Judge,
dissenting.
The majority opinion, with respect to the "good cause for discharge" issue, presupposes that the requirement for mandatory attendance at the staff meetings was a reasonable requirement as applied to Jones, in light of the hours and conditions of his employment. The mandatory staff meetings took place at 6:00 P.M. To be sure, refusal of Jones to attend on a Tuesday or Thursday, when his shift ran from 1:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M., would constitute cause for discharge. Quite a different question is presented by a demand to attend a meeting which commences an hour after termination of the shift, as was the case here. The meetings in question were held on Wednesdays when Jones's work shift ended at 5:00 P.M.
A different question would also be presented if, as a condition to the initial employment, it was made known that Jones was expected to attend all staff meetings, no matter when scheduled. I note, however, that the mandatory staff meeting rule was not initiated until January 1991. Jones had been employed since September 1990.
It is not, in my view, appropriate to equate refusal to remain on the job site more than an hour after completion of the work shift with refusal to attend staff meetings during or immediately preceding or following the work shift. To be sure, the difference is but one hour. That difference, however, establishes the line between what is a flagrant disregard for reasonable employment regulations and an arguably valid assertion by an employee that the extra hours required of him are unreasonable. See Best Lock Corp. v. Review Board of Indiana Dept. of Employment and Training Services (1991) 4th Dist. Ind. App., 572 N.E.2d 520. Jones's conduct also does not constitute such misconduct or insubordination as to disqualify him from benefits. Frazier v. Review Board of Indiana Employment Securities Division (1963) 134 Ind.App. 418, 188 N.E.2d 281.
Because I would reverse upon the merits of the claim for benefits, I do not reach the question with respect to the fairness of the hearing.
We must keep in mind that there is a difference between the right of an employer to terminate an employee who indicates that he does not wish to be a "member of the team", and the right of the employee to draw benefits as a result of such termination. Short of prohibited discriminatory terminations, an employee has no right to continued employment. That truism, however, does not answer the question with regard to entitlement to employment security benefits.