Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission --
Summary of Wisconsin Court Decision relating to Unemployment Insurance

Subject: Rock Erickson (Hrg. No. 9600366MD) v. Labor and Industry Review Commission and Create-Ability, Inc. (Case 96-CV-2819, Wis. Cir. Ct., Dane Co., August 7, 1997)

Digest Codes: MC 640.03  PC 752

The employe provided live-in care to two developmentally disabled adults. He was discharged based on charges that he had taken a vacation without prior authorization, prepared inadequate financial statements reflecting the clients’ funds, and disobeyed the employer’s instructions by signing a new lease for the apartment he shared with the clients without including language in the lease required by the employer which would clarify that the employing agency was the lessor. LIRC found that there was no evidence that the employe had been informed of the vacation policy he allegedly violated, but that the employe was discharged for misconduct in connection with the latter two grounds.

Held: Affirmed. The employe will not be heard to argue to the court that the employer had not mentioned the sufficiency of the financial statements (only their timeliness) as a grounds for his discharge, because he did not make that argument to the ALJ or LIRC. However, the court finds that the evidence shows that the employe was only guilty of good faith errors in the financial statements. Nevertheless the decision is affirmed because the employe’s actions in signing the lease, when he had been instructed not to do so until the required addendum was added, was a direct contravention of instructions he had been given, which constituted insubordination and misconduct.

Please note that this is a summary prepared by staff of the commission, not a verbatim reproduction of the court decision.

[ Search UC Decisions ] - [ UC Digest - Main Index ] - [ UC Legal Resources ] - [ LIRC Home Page ]