Sending Personal Emails Beyond De Minimis Use Is Willful Misconduct
In the employment law, unemployment compensation benefits termination case of Oyetayo v. Unemployment Comp. Bd. Of Review, PICS Case No. 15-0363 (Pa. Commw., March 4, 2015) the Honorable Garner Collins ruled that the claimant was not entitled to unemployment compensation benefits where he was terminated for willful misconduct, including the use of a company computer to send personal emails beyond the de minimis use of such equipment allowed under employer’s policies.
Claimant worked for the Montgomery County Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, until termination for alleged willful misconduct. Thereafter, he filed a claim for unemployment compensation benefits. The Unemployment Compensation Service Center found claimant eligible for benefits, as employer did not substantiate the assertion that claimant violated company rules.
On appeal, a referee held a hearing at which claimant and two witnesses for employer testified. Thereafter, the referee found that employer’s witnesses provided credible testimony that claimant had violated employer’s policies by misusing company time to conduct personal matters and by misusing the company’s computer for personal use.
As such, the referee reversed the center’s decision and held that claimant was ineligible for unemployment benefits. On appeal, the Unemployment Compensation Board adopted and incorporated the referee’s findings of fact and conclusions and, therefore, affirmed the decision denying claimant benefits. Here, claimant petitioned the Commonwealth Court for review.
The court noted that while not defined in the Unemployment Compensation Law, willful misconduct has been identified to include: wanton and willful disregard of employer’s interests; deliberate violation of employer’s rules; disregard of the standards of behavior that employer rightfully can expect from employees; and negligence that manifests culpability, wrongful intent or evil design, or an intentional and substantial disregard of employer’s interests or employee’s duties and obligations.
“Where a violation of the employer’s work rule is alleged to be the basis for termination of employment, the employer must show that the rule existed, that the rule was reasonable and that the claimant was aware of the rule and violated it.” If employer makes such a showing, the burden then shifts to claimant to show good cause for his conduct, the court explained.
Claimant maintained that the board’s finding that he violated employer’s policy concerning the acceptable use of electronic resources was not supported by substantial evidence. He also argued that his conduct did not constitute willful misconduct because the limited use of his work computer for personal email was reasonable and fell short of the type of conduct required under the law to disqualify a claimant from receiving benefits.
The court found that there was substantial evidence to support the board’s finding that employer maintained a policy limiting the personal use of employer’s electronic resources, that employer warned claimant on multiple occasions that he was no longer permitted to use company equipment to conduct personal affairs and that claimant continued to use company equipment for non-work related reasons despite these warnings.
Employer’s handbook included a policy regarding stating that personal use of such equipment is allowed “only if ‘de minimus’ (sic) in nature and reasonable under the totality of the circumstances…(.)” Claimant signed a document acknowledging receipt of the handbook and that he was bound by the policies within.
Moreover, the board’s conclusion that claimant’s conduct constituted willful misconduct under the law was well-founded. Employer had warned claimant that using his work equipment for personal reasons could lead to further discipline. Since claimant knowingly violated employer’s rules, the board did not err in finding him ineligible for benefits. Accordingly, the court affirmed.
Reference: Digest of Recent Opinions, Pennsylvania Law Weekly, 38 PLW 254 (March 17, 2015)
Filed Under: Employment Law: Willful Misconduct; Computer Use for Personal Emails; Unemployment Compensation
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