KNOWLES V. FUAC

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Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida, July Term, A.D. 2007 Opinion filed October 10, 2007. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing. ________________ No. 3D07-594 Lower Tribunal No. 06-9795 ________________ Knowles Affiliates, Inc., Appellant, vs. The Florida Unemployment Appeals Commission and Jake Garcia, Appellees. An Appeal from the Florida Unemployment Appeals Commission. Allen, Norton & Blue and York M. Flik, for appellant. John D. Maher, (Tallahassee) for appellee, Commission. Before WELLS, SHEPHERD, and SUAREZ, JJ. WELLS, Judge. Affirmed. See § 443.036(29), Fla. Stat. (2006) (providing that only willful violations or careless acts of such a degree or recurrence as demonstrate a substantial disregard for an employer s interests are sufficient to support denial of unemployment compensation benefits for misconduct connected with a former employee s work); Spink v. Unemployment Appeals Comm n, 798 So. 2d 899, 901-02 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001) ( An employer must show more than an employee s inefficiency, unsatisfactory conduct, or failure to perform. Inefficiency, unsatisfactory conduct, inability, inadvertence, and ordinary negligence do not constitute misconduct connected with work. . . . Poor judgment is not misconduct. The failure to follow rules or a violation of the employer s rules is generally not misconduct, but rather poor judgment. ) (citations omitted); Webb v. Rice, 693 So. 2d 1109, 1111 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997) ( Courts should narrowly construe the disqualification provisions [of chapter 443], and should liberally construe the statute in favor of the claimant when determining whether a claimant s actions constitute misconduct in accordance with its remedial nature. ); Ritenour v. Unemployment Appeals Comm n, 570 So. 2d 1106, 1108 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990) ( Reaching a different conclusion of law from that of the referee is within the scope of review of the commission. ). 2

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