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


Subject: Opportunities Industrialization Center of Greater Milwaukee, Inc.  v. Barbara Dates and LIRC, Case No. 00-CV-7743 (Wis. Cir. Ct., Milwaukee Co., March 20, 2001)

full text available here

Digest Codes: VL 1005  VL 1080.09

The employee voluntarily terminated her employment because of sexual harassment by a supervisor. She had complained to other supervisors and managers on a number of occasions. The ALJ accepted her allegations of sexual harassment as credible but found no good cause for her quitting, reasoning that the employer took reasonable steps to address the problem, including transferring the employee to a location where she did not have to have contact with the harasser. LIRC reversed and found good cause for quitting, holding that the employee had a right to work in an atmosphere free from sexual harassment and that the transfer was not a reasonable response to the employee’s complaints, and noting that the evidence showed that the employee continued to be harassed even after the transfer.

The employer appealed, alleging that the employee was not credible and had lied about the alleged harassment.

Held: Affirmed. LIRC did not act in excess of its powers by rejecting the employer’s theory that it had not had notice of the employee’s complaints because she had not filed them in writing with the person with administrative responsibility for such complaints;   LIRC properly relied on the employee’s testimony about her numerous oral complaints to various supervisors. Employer’s argument that the decision was "procured by fraud" within the meaning of Wis. Stat. § 102.23(1)(e)2. is erroneous because it relies on the theory that the employee engaged in fraud by testifying untruthfully;   that section only concerns alleged fraud by the commission itself in rendering the decision, and a court may not entertain a theory that a party engaged in fraud by testifying untruthfully because the question of the credibility of testimony is reserved to the commission.  LIRC’s findings of fact support its decision;  the court cannot find fault with LIRC’s conclusion of law, that the employee had good cause attributable to the employer to quit her employment where she endured repeated unwanted inappropriate actions by the harassing supervisor, complained each time, and did not get results from her complaints.


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

[LIRC decision]

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