Hronyetz v. Osiris Holding Corp., Unpublished Decision (5-24-2001)
Hronyetz v. Osiris Holding Corp., Unpublished Decision (5-24-2001)
Opinion of the Court
When appellant finally returned to work, she received a telephone call from the area manager, Tony Rocco. He informed her that her verbal resignation had been accepted.
Appellant filed an application for a determination of unemployment benefit rights. The Ohio Bureau of Employment Services issued an initial determination granting appellant unemployment benefits allowing the first claim for the week ending May 1, 1999. Appellee appealed, and the administrator affirmed the initial determination.
Appellee further appealed to the Review Commission pursuant to R.C.
Appellant appealed the decision to the Jefferson County Common Pleas Court. The trial court affirmed the Review Commission's determination. This appeal followed.
"THE JEFFERSON COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS ERRED IN AFFIRMING THE DECISION OF THE OHIO BUREAU OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICES BOARD OF REVIEW BECAUSE SAID DECISION WAS CONTRARY TO LAW AND AGAINST THE MANIFEST WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE, AS THE DECISION STATES THAT APPELLANT QUIT HER POSITION, EVEN THOUGH THE TESTIMONY AT THE BOARD OF REVIEW HEARING AND AN AFFIDAVIT BY HER IMMEDIATE SUPERVISOR ARE TO THE CONTRARY."
"THE JEFFERSON COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS ERRED IN AFFIRMING THE DECISION OF THE OHIO BUREAU OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICES BOARD OF REVIEW BECAUSE SAID DECISION WAS CONTRARY TO LAW AND AGAINST THE MANIFEST WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE, AS THE BOARD OF REVIEW ERRONEOUSLY RULED AGAINST THE APPELLANT, BY ARBITRARILY AND UNREASONABLY MAKING UNWARRANTED FACTUAL FINDINGS AND INFERENCES."
Appellant has the burden of proving her entitlement to unemployment compensation benefits. Irvine, supra at 17. In an attempt to satisfy her burden, appellant presented evidence supporting her contention that she did not quit. Such evidence consisted of appellant's own testimony, wherein she relayed the events as she recalled them. She also offered an affidavit from her immediate supervisor, Mike McCombs, which stated that he was not, at any time, informed by appellant that she quit.
Conversely, appellees elicited testimony from Dellaria who asserted that, indeed, appellant quit on April 14, 1999. In addition, Dellaria indicated that McCombs did not hear appellant exclaim that she quit because he was only present for a brief moment during the argument and he was not nearby when appellant said she quit. This contention is supported by a written statement from McCombs to appellees. That statement claimed that he witnessed a dispute between appellant and Dellaria, but the dispute was strictly between those parties. He did not wish to comment further.
As previously noted, this court's evaluation of Review Commission determinations is limited. We are not permitted to make factual findings or determine the credibility of the witnesses. Irvine, supra at 18. Rather, our duty is to determine whether the decision of the Review Commission is supported by the evidence in the record. Id. In doing so, "[t]he fact that reasonable minds might reach different conclusions is not a basis for the reversal of the [Review Commission's] decisions" and the Review Commission's determinations on close questions will not be disturbed. Id. Where the Review Commission might reasonably decide a case either way, courts have no authority to upset its decision. Id.
The trial court recognized the strictures of such a limited standard. It noted that this case hinged on the credibility of the testimony at the hearing. The trial court stated that it was not permitted to substitute its judgment for that of the Review Commission. As such, it affirmed the Review Commission's decision.
Likewise, we do not find that the denial of unemployment compensation benefits to appellant was unlawful, unreasonable or against the manifest weight of the evidence. The Review Commission had evidence before it by which it could have reached its decision. It chose to believe that appellant quit her job. It chose not to give credibility to appellant's contention that she was fired. The Review Commission determined that appellant did not have just cause to issue her resignation as an ordinary, intelligent person would not find a disagreement with her administrator to be a justifiable reason to quit. Booth, supra. We cannot, and will not, substitute our judgment on these determinations which are supported by some credible evidence.
Accordingly, appellant's first and second assignments of error are without merit.
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the trial court is hereby affirmed.
_____________ VUKOVICH, P.J.
Donofrio, J., concurs.
Waite, J., concurs.
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