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


Subject: Richard L. Molinaro v. LIRC and Wenniger Electric Inc., Case 01 CV 670 (Wis. Cir. Ct., Kenosha Co., November 28, 2001)

Digest Codes: MC 689 - Violation of company rule - Manner of performing work, MC 699 - Violation of law or public regulation

The employee, a service technician for a firm servicing air compressors and related products, was discharged based on a charge that he had knowingly vented Freon gas into the atmosphere in violation of the employer's rules and of applicable regulations of the Environmental Protection Agency. The Initial Determination found no misconduct and the employer appealed. The employee argued at hearing that what had been observed was simply an inadvertent leak and that he had not intentionally vented any gas. The Appeal Tribunal rejected these contentions and found misconduct. At LIRC, the employee continued to argue that there had been an inadvertent leak, and he submitted materials which had not been offered at hearing to support this argument. Declining to consider these materials, LIRC affirmed the finding of misconduct.

The employee appealed, arguing in circuit court that the court should not give "great weight" to the commission's conclusions of law on the misconduct question, that the record lacked the scientific evidence necessary to support the decision that any Freon was vented, that under applicable EPA regulations the discharge of certain limited quantities of Freon was permissible, and that it was not established that the employee violated the law.

Held: Affirmed. Great weight is due the commission's conclusion of law on the misconduct question. The Court cannot use the documents and other materials relied on by the employee which were not offered during the hearing. There was testimony which the commission found credible, that the employee was witnessed intentionally venting Freon gas while working on an appliance. The commission is the sole judge of the weight and credibility of evidence.


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

[ Search UC Decisions ] - [ UC Digest - Main Index ] - [ UC Legal Resources ] - [ LIRC Home Page ]


uploaded 2001/11/30