Abbott Industries v. Department of Employment Security

ILLINOIS OFFICIAL REPORTS

Appellate Court

Abbott Industries, Inc. v. Department of Employment Security, 2011 IL App (2d) 100610

Appellate Court ABBOTT INDUSTRIES, INC., Plaintiff-Appellee, v. THE

Caption DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT SECURITY; BOARD OF

REVIEW OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT SECURITY;

and DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT

SECURITY, Defendants-Appellants (Cynthia M. Mitchell, Defendant).

District & No. Second District

Docket No. 2–10–0610

Filed June 20, 2011

Held Board of Review’s determination that claimant was entitled to

(Note: This syllabus unemployment benefits, despite the absences, tardiness and recent poor

constitutes no part of the grades in her plumbing apprentice training program that resulted in the

opinion of the court but termination of her employment, was improperly reversed by the trial

has been prepared by the court, since her low grades and absences were not due to intentional

Reporter of Decisions for misconduct and the Board’s conclusion was clearly erroneous,

the convenience of the especially in the absence of any evidence that claimant set out to violate

reader.) her employer’s rules regarding grades and attendance and a record

showing claimant was unable to comply with her employer’s rules due

to the need to care for her mother.

Decision Under Appeal from the Circuit Court of Du Page County, No. 09–MR–938;

Review the Hon. Kenneth L. Popejoy, Judge, presiding.

Judgment Reversed.

Counsel on Lisa Madigan, Attorney General, of Chicago (Michael A. Scodro,

Appeal Solicitor General, and Ann C. Maskaleris, Assistant Attorney General,

of counsel), for appellants.

Jason Martin Loebach and John J. Chitkowski, both of Chitkowski Law

Offices, of Lisle, for appellee.

Panel JUSTICE SCHOSTOK delivered the judgment of the court, with

opinion.

Justices Burke and Hudson concurred in the judgment and opinion.

OPINION

¶1 On May 11, 2009, the Board of Review of the Illinois Department of Employment

Security (Department) determined that the claimant, Cynthia Mitchell, was entitled to

unemployment benefits because her absences, tardiness, and recent poor grades in her

apprentice training program were not due to intentional misconduct. The employer, Abbott

Industries, Inc., filed an action for administrative review. In May 2010, the circuit court

reversed the Board of Review’s decision and denied Mitchell benefits, and the Department

appealed. We affirm the decision of the Board of Review and reverse the judgment of the

circuit court.

¶2 BACKGROUND

¶3 The following facts come from the testimony and exhibits presented at the February 24,

2009, hearing before a Department referee. Mitchell began working for Abbott Industries,

a plumbing company located in Bensenville, as an apprentice plumber in June 2006. She was

enrolled in a five-year federal Department of Labor apprenticeship training program,

pursuant to which she attended school and worked as an apprentice plumber in order to get

her plumber’s license. The federal program, under which Mitchell held a provisional

apprentice plumber’s license, required Mitchell to maintain at least an average grade of C in

her courses (a 2.0 grade point average) during each six-month grading period. However,

Abbott Industries paid for Mitchell’s courses and had its own requirements for continued

employment, which included a grade point average of 2.5 or higher and not receiving any

grades of D or below. Abbott Industries also had an attendance policy stating that employees

were expected to attend school for eight hours per week and be available to work up to

another 32 hours per week on contractor assignments. Abbott Industries advised newly hired

apprentice plumbers of these policies and requirements during their orientation. Mitchell

signed a form acknowledging that she was aware that Abbott Industries did not tolerate

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excessive absenteeism, tardiness, or no call/no show.

¶4 Mitchell was absent or worked less than a full eight-hour day on 25 occasions during a

51-week period in 2008. On December 14, 2008, Mitchell received her grades for the most

recent six-month period. The grade point average was 2.14, and Mitchell had three Ds. Lori

Abbott, the owner of Abbott Industries, testified at the hearing that Mitchell received the Ds

for being absent from or tardy to school and not turning in her homework promptly. On

December 20, 2008, Abbott Industries fired Mitchell. Abbott told the Department that the

firing was based on Mitchell’s poor grades and poor attendance.

¶5 At the hearing, Mitchell stated that she believed that she had been fired because of her

low grades and had not understood until the hearing that her attendance was also a basis for

the termination. Mitchell testified that, before December 2008, Abbott had spoken with her

once regarding her grades, during her first six-month grading period. Her school would notify

students and employers if students were on academic probation because of grades or

attendance. During the first four grading periods, Mitchell was never on academic probation,

believed that her grades had been close to a 3.0 average, and had received regular raises that

were tied to her grades. The 2.14 grade point average in the fifth grading period represented

her lowest grades ever.

¶6 Mitchell also testified that Abbott spoke with her on only one occasion regarding her

absences from work. At that time, Mitchell told Abbott that her absences were caused by her

mother’s health problems and the fact that she was the primary caretaker for her mother.

According to Mitchell, Abbott seemed compassionate and understanding during this

conversation and did not warn Mitchell that she was in danger of being fired. In response to

the referee’s questions, Mitchell testified that her mother was disabled and that no other

family members were available to care for her, as Mitchell’s parents were divorced and her

siblings were in the military and away at college. Mitchell disputed Abbott’s account of her

absences and tardiness. Mitchell recalled being absent from work occasionally, but not 25

times in a 51-week period, and did not recall being late to work ever, saying that some days

she did not show up to work but that when she was working she did not arrive late.

¶7 Abbott testified that she had spoken with Mitchell and warned her on several occasions

about her grades at school and her attendance at work. According to Abbott, she “continually

told” Mitchell that Mitchell’s grades needed to come up. She agreed that Mitchell was not

on academic probation, which would happen if her grades dropped below a 2.0 grade point

average. Abbott also testified generally that she offered Mitchell help but that Mitchell did

not take her up on the offer. Abbott did not dispute Mitchell’s characterization of the

conversation about her absences at work, but testified that there was more than one

conversation on the subject. Abbott also testified that Mitchell’s attendance problems caused

her business to suffer.

¶8 The referee issued a decision finding that Mitchell was not eligible for unemployment

benefits, because she voluntarily left the job without good cause attributable to the employer.

Mitchell appealed the referee’s decision to the Department’s Board of Review. On May 11,

2009, the Board of Review reversed the referee’s decision.

¶9 The Board of Review began by noting that the facts of the case did not raise an issue of

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voluntary leaving under section 601(A) of the Illinois Unemployment Insurance Act (Act)

(820 ILCS 405/601(A) (West 2008)). When an employee has control over whether she

obtains or maintains a license that is legally required for her job, and she does not obtain or

maintain that license, her employer’s termination of her may be viewed as a voluntary

leaving rather than a discharge. Horton v. Department of Employment Security, 335 Ill. App.

3d 537, 541 (2002). The Board of Review found that here, however, Mitchell’s grades were

high enough to retain her provisional license because her grade point average for the most

recent grading period was 2.14, higher than the required 2.0 average. Thus, Abbott Industries

was not forced to discharge Mitchell for failure to maintain a necessary license, and the

termination could not be construed as a voluntary leaving.

¶ 10 The Board of Review then considered the other basis on which Mitchell could be

disqualified from receiving benefits under the Act, i.e., whether Mitchell had committed

misconduct within the meaning of section 602(A) of the Act (820 ILCS 405/602(A) (West

2008)). The Board of Review noted that “misconduct” sufficient to disqualify a worker from

receiving benefits is defined in the statute as “the deliberate and willful violation of a

reasonable rule or policy” of the employer, where the violation harmed the employer or was

repeated despite a warning. Id. The Board of Review found that Mitchell had not committed

the type of intentional disobedience that would constitute misconduct, because her absences

and low grades were caused by circumstances beyond her control:

“In this case the claimant worked to the best of her ability but was unable to meet the

standards required by the employer. Although the employer may well have been justified

in discharging the claimant, it was not shown that the claimant’s drop in grade point

average was the result of her wilful refusal to follow instructions. The claimant credibly

testified that she had informed the employer of her family situation which caused her

absences from work. There was no evidence adduced to support a conclusion that the

claimant acted in a deliberate manner to violate the employer’s rules.”

The Board of Review accordingly reversed the decision of the referee and held that Mitchell

was qualified to receive unemployment benefits.

¶ 11 Abbott Industries appealed the Board of Review’s decision to the circuit court, filing an

action for administrative review. After briefing and a hearing, the circuit court reversed the

Board of Review and held that Mitchell was disqualified from receiving benefits, because

she had committed misconduct. Explaining its ruling, the circuit court stated,

“The claimant was aware of the employer’s rules against being absent from work, and

she could not make arrangements for someone else to take care of her mother, so she did

deliberately and willfully, quote, had to take days off to handle certain situations, end of

quote.”

Mitchell timely appealed.

¶ 12 ANALYSIS

¶ 13 This appeal presents only one substantive issue for determination: whether Mitchell’s

absences and poor grades constituted misconduct under the statute such that she is ineligible

for unemployment benefits. Before we examine this issue, however, we pause to consider

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the appropriate standard of review to apply.

¶ 14 Standard of Review

¶ 15 In reviewing a decision by an administrative agency, we must review the final decision

of that agency. Thus, we review the decision by the Board of Review, which made the

Department’s final determination regarding Mitchell’s claim, not the decision of the referee

or the circuit court. Sudzus v. Department of Employment Security, 393 Ill. App. 3d 814, 819

(2009). We apply differing standards of review depending on the type of issue for which

review is sought. When we review factual findings of the Board of Review, we deem those

findings prima facie correct and will reverse only if they are against the manifest weight of

the evidence. Id. (citing City of Belvidere v. Illinois State Labor Relations Board, 181 Ill. 2d

191, 204-05 (1998)). Where, on the other hand, the issue is the correctness of the agency’s

conclusions of law, our review is de novo. Id. Finally, where the determination is a mixed

question of fact and law, we apply the “clearly erroneous” standard and will reverse only if

our review of the record and the agency’s determination leaves us with the “definite and firm

conviction” that the decision was a mistake. (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Id. at 820

(quoting AFM Messenger Service, Inc. v. Department of Employment Security, 198 Ill. 2d

380, 393 (2001)).

¶ 16 “The question of whether an employee was *** terminated for misconduct in connection

with his work involves a mixed question of law and fact, to which we *** apply the clearly

erroneous standard of review.” Id. at 826. Abbott Industries argues that the issue is a legal

one and so we should apply de novo review, citing older cases that rely on Grigoleit Co. v.

Department of Employment Security, 282 Ill. App. 3d 64, 71 (1996). See Wrobel v.

Department of Employment Security, 344 Ill. App. 3d 533, 536 (2003) (citing Grigoleit);

Caterpillar, Inc. v. Department of Employment Security, 313 Ill. App. 3d 645, 653 (2000)

(citing Grigoleit); Grigoleit, 282 Ill. App. 3d at 71. We reject this argument. Since Grigoleit

was decided, the Illinois Supreme Court has clarified the definition of mixed questions of

fact and law and repeatedly affirmed the application of the “clearly erroneous” standard to

such questions. In City of Belvidere, 181 Ill. 2d at 205, the supreme court explained that a

mixed question of fact and law is one in which the court must determine whether a certain

set of facts is sufficient to produce a given legal effect. In AFM Messenger Service, 198 Ill.

2d at 391, the supreme court expanded upon that explanation and noted that the

determination of whether the facts in a particular case satisfied a given statutory requirement

was an example of a mixed question of fact and law. Id. (quoting Pullman-Standard v. Swint,

456 U.S. 273, 289 n.19 (1982)). The question of whether, in a particular case, the facts found

by the Board of Review amount to misconduct under the statutory definition of that term is

similarly a mixed question of fact and law. This is the approach taken in more recent

unemployment benefit cases involving the issue of misconduct, where the courts have

applied the “clearly erroneous” standard. See Phistry v. Department of Employment Security,

405 Ill. App. 3d 604, 607 (2010); Sudzus, 393 Ill. App. 3d at 819; Hurst v. Department of

Employment Security, 393 Ill. App. 3d 323, 327 (2009); Manning v. Department of

Employment Security, 365 Ill. App. 3d 553, 557 (2006) (rejecting argument that

determination of whether employee’s actions amounted to misconduct was legal conclusion

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subject to de novo review and finding that “clearly erroneous” standard applicable to mixed

questions of fact and law was proper standard); Oleszczuk v. Department of Employment

Security, 336 Ill. App. 3d 46, 50 (2002); cf. Czajka v. Department of Employment Security,

387 Ill. App. 3d 168, 173 (2008) (citing Grigoleit but applying “clearly erroneous” standard,

not de novo standard). To the extent that this court’s previous decision in Caterpillar, which

relied upon Grigoleit, is to the contrary, we depart from that position and hold that the

question of whether an employee committed misconduct under the Act is a mixed question

of fact and law subject to the “clearly erroneous” standard.

¶ 17 Did Mitchell Commit Misconduct?

¶ 18 We now turn to the question of whether the Board of Review erred in concluding that

Mitchell did not engage in misconduct. As we have noted, the term “misconduct” is defined

in the Act as (1) “the deliberate and willful violation” of (2) a reasonable rule or policy of the

employer where (3) the violation harms the employer or is repeated after a warning. 820

ILCS 405/602(A) (West 2008). No dispute is raised regarding the second and third

requirements: the existence and reasonableness of Abbott Industries’ policies regarding its

apprentices’ grades and attendance, and the harm to Abbott Industries flowing from the

violation of those policies. Nor is there any question that Mitchell violated Abbott Industries’

policies through her low grades and absences. The sole issue is whether Mitchell’s absences

and low grades were “deliberate and willful” such that they constituted misconduct under the

Act. The Board of Review held that they were not, because they were not the result of a

deliberate decision by Mitchell to violate Abbott Industries’ rules. We examine whether this

conclusion was clearly erroneous.

¶ 19 In construing the requirement that an employee’s violations of the employer’s rules must

be “deliberate and willful,” courts have repeatedly held that this language reflects the General

Assembly’s intent that only those who intentionally act contrary to their employers’ rules

should be disqualified on the basis of misconduct, while those who have been discharged

because of their inadvertent or negligent acts, or their incapacity or inability to perform their

assigned tasks, should receive benefits. See Messer & Stilp, Ltd. v. Department of

Employment Security, 392 Ill. App. 3d 849, 860 (2009); Wrobel, 344 Ill. App. 3d at 537;

Zuaznabar v. Board of Review of the Department of Employment Security, 257 Ill. App. 3d

354, 357 (1993); Siler v. Department of Employment Security, 192 Ill. App. 3d 971, 975

(1989). Abbott Industries concedes that “misconduct under the Act is limited to an

employee’s intentional acts,” but argues that the Board of Review misapplied this definition.

We therefore look to the evidence in the record to see whether it leaves us with the definite

and firm conviction that the Board of Review erred in finding that Mitchell did not commit

intentional misconduct.

¶ 20 In this case, the Board of Review found that there was no evidence that Mitchell set out

to violate Abbott Industries’ rules regarding grades or absences. As to her grades, there was

no testimony that Mitchell was deliberately refusing to do the work associated with her

classes or in any other manner purposely refusing to put forth a good-faith effort in those

classes. The only evidence about the reason for Mitchell’s low grades was Abbott’s

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testimony that they were the result of her absences and not turning in work promptly, which

also related to her absences. (Although this statement was hearsay, it was not objected to, and

thus it can be considered for its natural probative value. Village Discount Outlet v.

Department of Employment Security, 384 Ill. App. 3d 522, 525 (2008).) Thus, there was no

evidence of intentional misconduct in connection with Mitchell’s grades apart from the issue

of whether her absences could be said to be intentional. We therefore turn to that question.

¶ 21 Abbott Industries argues that Mitchell’s absences were intentional because she

consciously chose to care for her mother instead of coming to work. The circuit court

adopted this same approach, stating that Mitchell “deliberately and willfully ‘had to take days

off to handle certain situations.’ ” (The circuit court was apparently quoting Mitchell or her

attorney.) However, this approach rests on a misunderstanding of what constitutes an

intentional act. The Board of Review found that Mitchell’s absences were caused by the fact

that she was the primary caretaker for her ill mother. This finding was based on undisputed

evidence: Abbott Industries offered no contrary evidence and did not suggest that Mitchell

was being untruthful when she described her mother’s ill health as the reason for her

absences. Her mother’s ill health was a circumstance beyond Mitchell’s control. There is no

suggestion in the record that any of Mitchell’s absences was not absolutely necessary in order

to provide for her mother’s care. To the contrary, Mitchell testified without contradiction that

there were no other family members available to provide such care. Indeed, in the same

passage quoted above, the circuit court noted that the evidence showed that Mitchell “could

not make arrangements for someone else to take care of her mother.”

¶ 22 The record thus establishes that Mitchell’s absences were due to a factor beyond her

control–her mother’s ill health–and an inability–her inability to find anyone else to care for

her mother. Neither of these can support a finding of deliberate and willful violation of

Abbott Industries’ attendance policy. To the contrary, courts have held that, when an

employee is unable to conform to her employer’s expectations despite her good-faith efforts,

she is eligible for benefits. For instance, an employee was eligible for benefits despite being

fired for falling asleep for 30 minutes during a meeting, where there was no evidence that she

intended to sleep: she was simply unable to remain awake. Washington v. Board of Review,

211 Ill. App. 3d 663, 669 (1991). Likewise, in Wrobel, the reviewing court held that an

employee who was fired for being late to work after repeated warnings was nevertheless

eligible for benefits, because his failure to ensure that at least one of his two alarm clocks

would go off despite a power failure amounted to negligence, not intentional conduct.

Wrobel, 344 Ill. App. 3d at 537. When an employee makes reasonable efforts to comply with

her employer’s rules but is frustrated by events beyond her control, she has not shown the

type of deliberate disregard for the rules that would constitute misconduct. London v.

Department of Employment Security, 177 Ill. App. 3d 276, 278-79 (1988) (employee left for

work early enough to get there on time but encountered unusually bad traffic due to

construction). Here, as in those cases, there is no evidence that Mitchell took her employer’s

attendance rules lightly or intentionally disregarded them. Rather, the record establishes that

she was unable to comply with those rules due to the need to care for her mother and the lack

of alternatives. Because this is not the type of deliberate and willful act contemplated by the

legislature when it defined the term “misconduct,” the Board of Review’s conclusion that

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Mitchell was eligible for benefits was not clearly erroneous.

¶ 23 Abbott Industries cites Bochenek v. Department of Employment Security, 169 Ill. App.

3d 507 (1988), in support of its argument that a pattern of absences can constitute

misconduct. In that case, the plaintiff was fired for being tardy and absent despite repeated

warnings over an 18-month period. The plaintiff testified that he had psychological problems

including depression and delusions of grandeur that made it very difficult for him to get to

work on time and work a full day. He also submitted his doctor’s statement that the plaintiff

was diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder and was on medication. Despite stating that the

plaintiff “was unable” to improve his attendance despite the warnings (id. at 508), the court

held that his absenteeism and tardiness “had reached such a degree of recurrence as to be

considered misconduct” and therefore affirmed the denial of benefits (id. at 509). In

Bochenek, the plaintiff had been absent 7 days and late 9 days during the previous 81 work

days since his last warning, thus displaying attendance problems on 16 (or approximately

20%) of his most recent work days. Abbott Industries argues that Mitchell’s attendance

record was even worse because she either was absent or worked less than eight hours on 25

occasions in a 51-week period.

¶ 24 Leaving aside Abbott Industries’ faulty arithmetical skills (51 weeks of 5 work days each

is 255 work days, and so 25 absences or partial days would be approximately 10%, or half

the rate of the plaintiff in Bochenek), its reliance on the holding in Bochenek is misplaced.

Bochenek was decided under the former common-law definition of “misconduct” contained

in Jackson v. Board of Review of the Department of Labor, 105 Ill. 2d 501, 511-12 (1985),

which included “carelessness or negligence of such degree or recurrence as to manifest ***

wrongful intent.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) This definition was superseded by the

legislature’s enactment of the Act, which took effect on January 1, 1988, and under which

“misconduct” must now be deliberate and willful. See Wrobel, 344 Ill. App. 3d at 537.

Accordingly, Bochenek is neither controlling nor persuasive. And like the court in Wrobel,

we will not “infer that an employee willfully and deliberately violated an employer’s

attendance policy based on the number of infractions alone” (id. at 539), especially where,

as here, it appears that the same lack of willfulness applied to each violation.

¶ 25 In affirming Mitchell’s eligibility for unemployment benefits, we do not mean to suggest

that we are unsympathetic with Abbott Industries’ decision to fire Mitchell. The inability to

measure up to an employer’s reasonable rules certainly may justify termination. However,

the Act requires a different legal standard to be applied to the separate question of whether

a terminated employee is eligible to receive unemployment benefits. To disqualify an

employee from receiving benefits, “an employer must satisfy a higher burden than merely

proving that an employee should have been rightly discharged.” Zuaznabar, 257 Ill. App. 3d

at 359.

¶ 26 For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the decision of the Board of Review and reverse the

judgment of the circuit court of Du Page County.

¶ 27 Reversed.

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