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

Subject: Dale Goshaw (Hrg. No. 95201881EC) v. Labor and Industry Review Commission and University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, Case 96-CV-272 (Wis. Cir. Ct., Eau Claire Co., August 29, 1997)

Digest Codes: MC 610.25

The employe worked for 15 years as a custodian for the employer, UW-Eau Claire. On 11/6/95, a student reported to the employer that he had seen the employe and a co-worker outside of their assigned work area. A pre-disciplinary hearing was held on 11/10/95, at which time the identity of the student who filed the report was inadvertently disclosed to the employe. At the end of the day, the employe went to the student’s dormitory room, and when the student came to the door the employe asked him if he had written the report. The student replied that he did not want to talk to the employe, but as the student attempted to shut the door the employe stuck his foot out to stop it. He told the student he could be "in big trouble for falsifying information." The employe then withdrew his foot and the student slammed the door shut. The student reported this incident to the employer and the employer discharged the employe for threatening and intimidating behavior towards a student in the dormitory.

The commission found that the employe’s behavior was intentionally designed to intimidate the student.

Held: Affirmed. The student’s dormitory room was the equivalent of his home, and security in one’s home is a fundamental right. The employe’s actions support the commission’s inference that his threatening behavior was intentional. Because the commission’s conclusion is reasonable and supported by credible evidence it cannot be overturned.

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

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