By: Derek Hawkins//May 9, 2017//
WI Supreme Court
Case Name: Lela M. Operton v. Labor and Industry Review Commission
Case No.: 2017 WI 46
Focus: Unemployment Benefits
We conclude that LIRC incorrectly denied Operton unemployment benefits. Operton was entitled to unemployment benefits because her actions do not fit within the definition of substantial fault as set forth in Wis. Stat. § 108.04(5g)(a)(2013-14)3. Stated more fully, Operton was terminated for committing “One or more inadvertent errors” during the course of her employment, and therefore pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 108.04(5g)(a)2., she was not terminated for substantial fault. We further conclude that, as a matter of law, Operton’s eight accidental or careless cash-handling errors over the course of 80,000 cash-handling transactions were inadvertent.
Accordingly, we affirm the court of appeals and remand to LIRC to determine the amount of unemployment compensation Operton is owed.
Affirmed
Concur: Abrahamson, Bradley, Ziegler, Gablemen, Kelly
Dissent: