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


Subject: Richard R. Lochner v. LIRC and Saint Gobain Performance Plastics Corp.,  Case 02 CV 2814 (Wis. Cir. Ct., Dane Co., April 2, 2003)

Digest Codes:  MC 666.01  MC 668 

The employee worked for 11 years as a first-shift set up person for the employer, a manufacturer of plastic medical devices. He also coordinated the work performed by set-up workers on the second and third shifts. He was receiving treatment for depression, and had presented the employer with a medical excuse allowing him to leave work when his condition became acute. The employer had routinely allowed him to take time off work pursuant to that excuse, and in accordance with the Family Medical Leave Act. 

The employee had become increasingly frustrated by the failure of co-workers on the other two shifts to follow his written instructions for assignments. On 6/19/01, the employee was given a verbal warning because had a become upset with a co-worker who had not completed an assignment. He had challenged the
co-worker to step outside to settle the matter by fighting. On 10/22/01, the employee received a written warning for directing abusive language towards an engineer with whom he had a disagreement concerning a job. On 2/8/02, the employee became upset because the set-up persons on the other two shifts had accomplished almost none of the assignments he had left for them the previous day. He confronted the second-shift set up person when that individual arrived for work, and when the employee became angry, another worker interceded and told him to leave. The employee responded by challenging the worker to go outside and “discuss” the matter, and when the worker refused to do this the employee called him a “queer.” After the employer investigated this incident it discharged the employee. 

The appeal tribunal and the commission found misconduct and the employee appealed and argued that his bad behavior had been caused by his depressive disorder and therefore was not intentional.  [LIRC Decision]

Held: The finding of misconduct is affirmed. The question of whether the employee's depressive disorder left him unable to control his behavior required an expert medical opinion to answer. The only medical opinion submitted by the employee indicated that he should be allowed to take time off work when needed. It did not indicate that the employee was unable to control his behavior, nor did it indicate that there was a causal link between the depressive disorder and the way the employee acted on the dates in question. 

  Appealed to the Court of Appeals.  Affirmed November 26, 2003 (unpublished summary disposition).


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

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