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Dismissal for misconduct bars UI benefits

By Harvey Randall, Esq.

Dismissal for misconduct bars UI benefits
Morgan v Comm. of Labor, App. Div., 3rd Dept., 291 A.D.2d 701

Michael Morgan was employed as a traffic enforcement agent for the New York City Department of Citywide Administration.

In the course of an investigation that followed the arrest of an individual found with a forged New York City Police Department parking permit in his possession, Morgan admitted that he had obtained the forged parking permit from a third party and that he had given it to the person who had been arrested. Morgan was fired.

Morgan's application for unemployment insurance benefits was rejected by the Unem­ployment Insurance Appeals Board on the grounds that Morgan had been terminated for "disqualifying misconduct."

The court said that it had previously ruled that "an employee's dishonest acts or knowing failure to adhere to the employer's established policies and procedures can be construed as disqualifying misconduct," citing Petrosov v Commissioner of Labor, 284 AD2d 874. Finding that substantial evidence supports the decision of the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board that Morgan's actions constituted disqualifying misconduct, the Appellate Division dismissed Morgan's appeal.

Full post as published by New York Public Personnel Law on January 23, 2008 (boomark / email).