Wis.LIRC WC Decision: Sann - September 13, 2000 - ND � 7.32 - Refusal to Rehire Must Have Been Without Reasonable Cause - Unreasonable refusal to rehire - Reasonable cause for discharge or failure to rehire must include an absence of motivation related to the fact that the employe sustained a work injury.

STATE OF WISCONSIN
LABOR AND INDUSTRY REVIEW COMMISSION
P O BOX 8126, MADISON, WI 53708-8126 (608/266-9850)

KAREN SANN, Applicant

BADGER CARE-A-VANS INC, Employer

WORKER'S COMPENSATION DECISION
Claim No. 1997-028543

An administrative law judge (ALJ) for the Worker's Compensation Division of the Department of Workforce Development issued a decision in this matter. A timely petition for review was filed by the respondent.

The commission has considered the petition and the positions of the parties, and it has reviewed the evidence submitted to the ALJ. Based on its review, the commission agrees with the decision of the ALJ, and it adopts the findings and order in that decision as its own.

INTERLOCUTORY ORDER

The findings and interlocutory order of the administrative law judge are affirmed.

Jurisdiction is reserved for such further findings and orders as may be warranted.

Dated and mailed September 13, 2000
sannka.wsd : 185 : 2 ND � 7.32

/s/ David B. Falstad, Chairman

/s/ Pamela I. Anderson, Commissioner

/s/ James A. Rutkowski, Commissioner

MEMORANDUM OPINION

In its petition, the employer asserted that the administrative law judge erred by finding that it lacked reasonable cause for discharging the applicant, even though the applicant was a poor employe and even though accommodating her light-duty restrictions constituted a financial hardship for the business. However, the administrative law judge explained in her decision that reasonable cause for the discharge could not be found because the credible evidence demonstrated that the employer's suspicions and dissatisfactions with the applicant, engendered by her work injuries, were a significant causative factor in her discharge. Reasonable cause for discharge or failure to rehire must include an absence of motivation related to the fact that the employe sustained a work injury. Rosalie Newberry v. Robert Hansen Trucking, W.C. Claim No. 1996-022382 (LIRC, August 6, 1999); Katherine Burow v. Woodman's Foods, W.C. Claim No. 87-013184 (LIRC June 4, 1990).

The commission concurred with the administrative law judge that the employer's suspicions, anger, and frustration over the applicant's continuing disability constituted significant motives for her discharge, and that accordingly, her discharge was not with reasonable cause.

cc: ATTORNEY JAMES B CONNELL
CROOKS LOW CONNELL & ROTTIER SC

ATTORNEY MARK A SAUER
MALLERY & ZIMMERMAN SC

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