Employee Who Quit Because Boss Frequently Yelled at Him and Others Is Awarded Unemployment Compensation

In late January, a divided Ohio Court of Appeals from Summit County affirmed the award of unemployment compensation to an employee who quit twelve days after being hired because his actual duties did not match his job description and because the boss frequently yelled at him and others over his protests. Ro-Mai Industries, Inc. v. Weinberg, 2008-Ohio-301 (1/30/08).

The employee accepted a position with the employer after interviewing with the owner. The employee, “who had extensive experience in sales,” testified that he was told that his position with the employer would involve sales work and would require him to be at the office only from approximately 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The owner testified: "When I hired [the employee], I told him I'm probably the worst employer to ever work for[.] I'm difficult. I expect a lot. And I warned him in advance that I'm very difficult. *** [W]hen it comes to the business, I . . . I can yell. I did yell."

The employee began work on October 24, 2005. After a few days of work, however, he says that it became clear that “his actual duties differed from the job description that he received. He was not given any sales work and he often worked well over the nine hour shift that he was promised.” In addition, he discovered that the owner had a habit of yelling at the employees. Although the employee told the owner that he did not appreciate being treated in such a manner, the owner continued to yell.

On November 3, 2005, the employee informed the head of human resources that he intended to quit and was told: "[O]h, it[] gets worse. That's the way he is." However, before the employee left the office the owner sought him out, promised to stop yelling at him, and convinced him to stay. The employee returned to work the next day, but the owner resumed his habit of yelling at him. Accordingly, the employee quit the following day.

In opposing the unemployment claim, the employer argued that the employee voluntarily quit without just cause because he did not want to work more than eight hours a day, as a salaried employee sometimes must do, and he did not enjoy the type of work that the employer assigned him. It also argued that the employee was overly sensitive to the owner’s yelling, in that such yelling had never caused any other employee to quit. The dissent was persuaded by this argument and expressed concern that an employee could obtain unemployment compensation anytime he or she quit after being yelled at by a manager or supervisor. “No other . . . employee quit because of the yelling. This, therefore, obviates the hearing officer's determination that a reasonable person would quit in such a situation. While it may be uncomfortable for an employee to have an employer yell at him or her, if we were to take the reasoning of the hearing officer to its ultimate conclusion, there would be reasonable ground for quitting just because one employee simply raised his voice at another. I would find being yelled at, as a matter of law, is not just cause to qualify for unemployment benefits.”

The hearing officer determined that a reasonable person in the employee’s position would have quit his employment. Noting that the employer had misrepresented the employee’s job duties and the number of hours that he would be expected to work as a salaried employee, the hearing officer and the majority of the Court were also influenced because the “yelling was not a single, isolated incident.” Had it been a single, isolated incident, the employee would not have had just cause to resign. Rather, it “was a repetitive problem that [the employee] unsuccessfully tried to address with [the employer’s] human resources department prior to quitting. [The employee] even agreed to resume work the first time that he intended to quit because [the owner] asked him to stay and promised to stop yelling. He did not abandon his employment without warning, or leave with utter disregard for the good of the business.”

Insomniacs may read the full decision at http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/9/2008/2008-ohio-301.pdf.

NOTICE: This summary is designed merely to inform and alert you of recent legal developments. It does not constitute legal advice and does not apply to any particular situation because different facts could lead to different results. Information here can change or be amended without notice. Readers should not act upon this information without legal advice. If you have any questions about anything you have read, you should consult with or retain an employment attorney.