Utah Court of Appeals – Employee Who Failed to Follow Work Schedule Not Discharged for Just Cause

On July 29, 2011, the Utah Court of Appeals upheld a Workforce Appeals Board determination that an employee who failed to follow his work schedule was not terminated for just cause and was, therefore eligible for unemployment.  In Prosper Team, Inc. v. Department of Workforce Services, the Utah Court of Appeals stated that, although it might have decided the case differently, because the Workforce Appeals Board determined that the employee did not understand that he had been assigned a specific work schedule, the Court would not overturn the decision because “a reasonable mind might consider this evidence adequate to support the Board’s finding that the Claimant did not have knowledge that he was expected to rigidly adhere to certain shift requirements.”  The Court did not consider it notable that the employee had been given a written warning, verbal warnings, and email warnings.