WILDER, J.
Respondent U.S. Security Associates, Inc., appeals by leave granted
Claimant worked for respondent as a security guard from September 21, 2008, to February 9, 2011, when respondent mailed her a notice of termination of employment for violating company rules and regulations on January 27, 2011.
Before the incident leading to her termination, on November 11, 2008, claimant signed an acknowledgement of respondent's "Security Officer's Guide," which provided, in relevant part, that the "[u]nauthorized use of client facilities or equipment, including copiers, fax machines, computers, the internet, forklifts and vehicles" may result in immediate termination.
While working at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Concourse B, claimant was approached by an airline passenger seeking departure information. Claimant looked for that information on the computer near her post. Shortly after this incident, claimant received a call from the command center, and was informed that someone had anonymously complained about her use of the computer. Respondent drafted a disciplinary report, which claimant signed. Then, respondent told claimant she would be reassigned. But later, respondent reevaluated the incident and instead terminated claimant's employment in the February 9 letter.
Claimant filed a claim for unemployment benefits, and a notice of determination denying her claim was issued on March 10, 2011. The notice provided:
Claimant filed an appeal of this notice of determination, and a hearing was conducted on July 13, 2011, by Administrative Law Judge Lawrence Hollens (ALJ). Claimant and respondent's employment specialist, Aramis Brown, appeared at the hearing without counsel.
Claimant further testified that she did not believe it was "a problem" to check on the departures and arrivals to help a passenger, and indicated that she had done so before this incident. The passenger could have found the same information on public boards, but the nearest board was down the hall.
The ALJ affirmed the agency's determination to deny unemployment benefits. In his reasoning and conclusions, the ALJ sets forth the following facts not in dispute:
The ALJ also found that claimant accessed the computer to assist a passenger with flight arrivals and departures. The ALJ ruled that the employer met its burden of proof in establishing that claimant was discharged for reasons "which would constitute behavior beneath the standard the Employer had reason to expect of its employee."
Claimant appealed the ALJ's decision, arguing that her conduct did not rise to the level of disqualifying misconduct. The MCAC issued a decision affirming the ALJ's decision and ruled that the decision was in conformity with the facts as developed at the hearing and the ALJ properly applied the law to the facts.
Claimant then filed an appeal in the circuit court, arguing that her conduct did not rise to the level of disqualifying misconduct given that she was not acting against her employer's best interests and her behavior could be considered no more than an error in judgment. Respondent
The circuit court then entered an order reversing the MCAC "[f]or the reasons stated on the record." Respondent's application for leave to appeal followed and was granted by this Court.
The Michigan Employment Security Act (MESA) governs unemployment benefits. The purpose of the act is to "provide benefits for periods of unemployment ... [to] persons unemployed through no fault of their own[.]" MCL 421.2(1). Under the MESA, "[a]n individual is disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits if he or she ... [w]as ... discharged for misconduct connected with the individual's work...." MCL 421.29(1)(b). The employer bears the burden of proving misconduct. Korzowski v. Pollack Indus., 213 Mich.App. 223, 229, 539 N.W.2d 741 (1995).
In Carter v. Employment Security Comm., 364 Mich. 538, 541, 111 N.W.2d 817 (1961), the Michigan Supreme Court adopted the following definition of "misconduct" (which was cited by the circuit court below):
The Supreme Court's description of conduct that is not misconduct was also cited by the circuit court below:
Similarly, MCL 421.38(1) provides:
The circuit court ... may review questions of fact and law on the record made before the administrative law judge and the Michigan compensation appellate commission involved in a final order or decision of the Michigan compensation appellate commission, and may make further orders in respect to that order or decision as justice may require, but the court may reverse an order or decision only if it finds that the order or decision is contrary to law or is not supported by competent, material, and substantial evidence on the whole record. Application for review shall be made within 30 days after the mailing of a copy of the order or decision by any method permissible under the rules and practices of the circuit court of this state. [Emphasis added.]
As respondent argues on appeal, the circuit court was required to uphold the decision of the MCAC unless (1) its decision was contrary to law, or (2) the decision was not supported by competent, material, and substantial evidence. When a circuit court reviews whether a decision was supported by substantial evidence, it may not invade the province of the agency as fact-finder, resolve evidentiary disputes, or pass on witness credibility. See Smith v. Employment Security Comm., 410 Mich. 231, 260-261, 301 N.W.2d 285 (1981); Vanzandt v. State Employees Retirement Sys., 266 Mich.App. 579, 588, 701 N.W.2d 214 (2005). We review a lower court's application of the substantial-evidence standard for clear error, Boyd v. Civil Serv. Comm., 220 Mich.App. 226, 234-235, 559 N.W.2d 342 (1996), but we review de novo whether a circuit court applied correct legal principles in reviewing an administrative decision, Mericka v. Dep't of Community Health, 283 Mich.App. 29, 35-36, 770 N.W.2d 24 (2009); see also Natural Resources Defense Council v. Dep't of Environmental Quality, 300 Mich.App. 79, 88, 832 N.W.2d 288 (2013) ("Courts review de novo questions of law, including whether an agency's action complied with a statute.").
When it reversed the MCAC's decision, the circuit court did not expressly state on the record whether its decision was based on a question of law or a lack of substantial evidence. Claimant maintains on appeal that the circuit court properly decided
Claimant argues the circuit court was not required to make findings of fact in this case because the facts in the record were undisputed. And because the facts were undisputed, claimant argues that the circuit court decided a question of law regarding whether her conduct constituted misconduct. In Laya v. Cebar Const. Co., 101 Mich.App. 26, 300 N.W.2d 439 (1980),
Like the facts in Laya, the relevant facts were undisputed in this case. There was no question that claimant violated respondent's rules when she accessed the client's computer, but she testified that she had done so to help a passenger. The ALJ made this finding of fact in his decision. At the circuit court hearing, respondent attempted to create a question of fact by arguing that "being helpful" was not one of claimant's "job duties," but that argument was inconsistent with the record. Claimant had previously testified that it was her job to help passengers, and respondent presented no evidence to the contrary. Because the facts in the record were undisputed, claimant's argument is persuasive that because there were no disputed factual findings for the circuit court to test with the substantial-evidence standard, it must have decided a question of law.
But even if the facts were not undisputed, this Court has stated that the interpretation and application of the statute to the facts is a question of law. See In re Wayne County Treasurer Petition, 265 Mich.App. 285, 290, 698 N.W.2d 879 (2005); see also Natural Resources Defense Council, 300 Mich.App. at 88, 832 N.W.2d 288. In Wickey v. Employment Security Comm., 369 Mich. 487, 490, 120 N.W.2d 181 (1963), our Supreme Court noted that it had "only rarely ... made the sometimes difficult effort to distinguish between issues of fact, issues of law, and compound issues of fact and law." However, the Court stated that when a dispute involves an agency's "interpretation or application of a statute, our function is not restricted by the `great weight' test in determining whether or not the agency's application of the statute to the facts found conforms with the law...."
Just as in Laya, the question of law in Wickey was whether the claimant had voluntarily left his employment without good cause. Id. at 494, 120 N.W.2d 181. The claimant was a seaman who went ashore while off duty and returned to the ship late, after it had departed. Id. at 494-495, 120 N.W.2d 181. The Court concluded that this action did not "support even an inference of intentional, deliberate, voluntary desertion of his ship." Id. at 495, 120 N.W.2d 181. The claimant's subsequent conduct — traveling where the ship was next scheduled to dock — likewise demonstrated that the claimant did not intend to quit his job, but intended to resume it. Id. at 496, 120 N.W.2d 181. Because the Court concluded that the facts as found by the agency did not, as a matter of law, justify the claimant's disqualification from unemployment benefits, the Court found it unnecessary to determine whether the findings of fact were supported by the evidence. Id. at 497-498, 120 N.W.2d 181.
The framework explained by our Supreme Court in Wickey applies here. Under Const. 1963, art. 6, § 28 and MCL 421.38(1), a circuit court must review the agency's factual findings under the substantial-evidence standard, but review the facts, as found, to determine whether they constitute "misconduct" under the statute.
The question before the circuit court, as framed by claimant at the hearing on her appeal from the agency decision, was whether the ALJ's and the MCAC's decisions were supported by law. Contrary to respondent's argument on appeal, we find nothing in the record to indicate that the circuit court analyzed whether the agency's findings of fact were supported by the record evidence. As our Supreme Court directed in Wickey, the circuit court assumed the facts found by the ALJ were true (noting that claimant had a choice between whether "to help somebody, some customer for the benefit of the company" or "to look in this computer" as she'd been "told not to do") and applied those facts to the law. The circuit court relied on the definition of misconduct in Carter to conclude that claimant's behavior was mere negligence. Determining whether an agency decision was authorized by law was within the circuit court's authority under Const. 1963, art. 6, § 28 and MCL 421.38(1) and was not error.
Given our conclusion that the circuit court analyzed whether claimant's behavior constituted misconduct as a matter of law, we must next consider whether the circuit court erred in this determination. Mericka, 283 Mich.App. at 35-36, 770 N.W.2d 24. The principles of statutory interpretation are well established. The primary goal of judicial interpretation of statutes is to ascertain and give effect to the intent of the Legislature. The statutory language is the best indicator of the
Again, our Supreme Court defined "misconduct" under MCL 421.29(1)(b) as
"[W]hile misconduct may justify an employee's discharge for breach of company rules, not every such breach rises to the level of misconduct sufficient to disqualify the employee for unemployment benefits." Tuck v. Ashcraft's Market, Inc., 152 Mich.App. 579, 589, 394 N.W.2d 426 (1986), citing Reed v. Employment Security Comm., 364 Mich. 395, 110 N.W.2d 907 (1961).
In Carter, 364 Mich. at 540, 111 N.W.2d 817, the claimant was instructed by his foreman to shovel a pile of lead dust into the furnace that the claimant operated. The claimant refused. When the foreman said he would shovel the dust, the claimant threatened to punch him in the nose. The court determined that the claimant's response was "both a wilful disregard of the employer's interests and a deliberate violation of standards of behavior which an employer has a right to expect of his employee." Id. at 542, 111 N.W.2d 817. The claimant's behavior was "fundamentally disruptive of orderly conduct of work...." Id. The Court found no evidence in the record to support the claimant's contention that his foreman's instruction was unreasonable or that his refusal was motivated by fear. Id. at 543-544, 111 N.W.2d 817. Under these circumstances, the Court held that the claimant's behavior constituted misconduct under MESA. See also Parks v. Employment Security Comm., 427 Mich. 224, 398 N.W.2d 275 (1986) (holding that the claimant's failure to abide by city residency requirements and her attempt to sustain the appearance of residency in the city constituted a willful disregard of the employer's interest).
In Tuck, 152 Mich.App. at 582, 394 N.W.2d 426, the claimant worked in the meat department of a market. The store had a scrap barrel where unsaleable products were placed, and the claimant had been taking scrap from that barrel for several years for bear baiting. On a day when a manager was not present, the claimant discovered spoiled fish in the market (not the scrap barrel) and he loaded the fish directly into his truck. Only managers were authorized to determine the appropriate disposition of unsaleable goods, including whether to sell them to restaurants or employees at a discount or to dispose of them in the scrap barrel. Id. at 582-584, 394 N.W.2d 426. There was
In Razmus v. Kirkhof Transformer, 137 Mich.App. 311, 313, 357 N.W.2d 683 (1984), the claimant was terminated for two instances of "wasting time" and one violation of safety rules. This Court held that none of the violations amounted to misconduct under MESA. Id. at 316-317, 357 N.W.2d 683. This Court noted that the "safety violation, if anything, evinces an intent to further his employer's interest. [The claimant] removed his safety glasses because they kept falling off and interfering with his helping a new employee." Id. at 316, 357 N.W.2d 683. Moreover, the claimant only left his work station for personal business after he had finished his work (welding) and was waiting for the lead to cool. Id. at 317, 357 N.W.2d 683; see also LaCharite v. State of Florida, 890 So.2d 354 (Fla.App., 2004) (claimant who regularly administered saline IVs administered an IV to a coworker with permission from the office manager, but not from a doctor as the employer's rules provided, demonstrated a good-faith error in judgment, not egregious, willful, or wanton behavior that would warrant a denial of benefits).
Claimant disregarded respondent's rules when she used the computer, but the question before the circuit court was whether her breach rose to the level of misconduct, as defined by statute, that would be sufficient to disqualify her from benefits. Tuck, 152 Mich.App. at 589, 394 N.W.2d 426. We conclude that the circuit court did not err by determining that claimant's behavior was a good-faith error in judgment and not misconduct under MESA. Mericka, 283 Mich.App. 29, 35-36, 770 N.W.2d 24. Claimant was aware of the rule prohibiting her use of the computer, but she disregarded it to help a passenger, believing that helping passengers was one of her job responsibilities as a security guard at the airport.
There are no facts in the record demonstrating a willful and wanton disregard for respondent's interests. Unlike the claimant who threatened to punch his foreman in Carter, and the claimant who willfully lied about her residency in Parks, claimant's behavior was intended to further respondent's interests and assist, not disrupt, the passengers at the airport. In that respect, claimant's behavior is more akin to the violation of the safety rule in Razmus, which was committed to assist a coworker. Respondent notes that the rule prohibiting security guards' use of the computers was in place because the airport's computers contained sensitive information. But the fact that claimant merely accessed public flight information, not sensitive information, advances her claim that this was a good-faith error in judgment and not evil design. Carter, 364 Mich. at 541, 111 N.W.2d 817.
We conclude that, as a matter of law, claimant's violation of the rules in this case did not constitute misconduct under MCL 421.29(1)(b). The circuit court did not err
Affirmed. Claimant may tax costs pursuant to MCR 7.219.
O'CONNELL, P.J., and METER, J., concurred with WILDER, J.