Opinion
12-15-2016
In the Matter of the Claim of Brenda A. TRUNZO, Appellant. Commissioner of Labor, Respondent.
Bonney Law Firm, Waterloo (Gregory L. Bonney of counsel), for appellant. Eric T. Schneiderman, Attorney General, New York City (Linda D. Joseph of counsel), for respondent.
Bonney Law Firm, Waterloo (Gregory L. Bonney of counsel), for appellant.Eric T. Schneiderman, Attorney General, New York City (Linda D. Joseph of counsel), for respondent.
Before: McCARTHY, J.P., GARRY, EGAN JR., LYNCH and CLARK, JJ.
Appeal from a decision of the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board, filed October 15, 2015, which ruled that claimant was disqualified from receiving unemployment insurance benefits because her employment was terminated due to misconduct.
Claimant was a registered nurse case manager for a home care agency. Part of her duties included monitoring a patient's medication and filling a daily medication administration tray, known as a mediset, which could only contain agents prescribed or approved by the patient's physician. Claimant was discharged from her employment after it was discovered that, contrary to the employer's known policy guidelines, she included over-the-counter diet pills in a patient's mediset without informing a physician or obtaining a physician's order. The Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board, reversing a decision of the Administrative Law Judge, ruled that claimant engaged in disqualifying misconduct and denied her application for unemployment insurance benefits. Claimant appeals.
We affirm. “An employee's violation of an employer's reasonable policy, which has a detrimental effect on the employer's interest, has been found to constitute disqualifying misconduct” (Matter of Sutton [Albany Med. Ctr.-Commissioner of Labor], 84 A.D.3d 1621, 1622, 923 N.Y.S.2d 315 [2011] [citations omitted] ). Here, claimant received an employee handbook and was aware of the employer's policy that a physician's order is required for any medication or therapeutic agent placed in a mediset. Claimant knew that the purpose of the policy was to keep the physician informed of any substances being combined with the patient's prescribed medications in order to address any potential harmful interactions. To the extent that claimant asserts that her conduct was unintentional as she just forgot to obtain a physician's order and that such conduct amounted to mere negligence, we note that “[w]hether a claimant's actions rise to the level of disqualifying misconduct is a factual issue for the Board to resolve” (Matter of Muniz [Mitarotonda Servs., Inc.-Commissioner of Labor], 140 A.D.3d 1426, 1427, 34 N.Y.S.3d 258 [2016] [internal quotation marks and citation omitted]; see Matter of Arroyo [Dry Harbor Nursing Home–Hartnett], 145 A.D.2d 886, 887, 536 N.Y.S.2d 860 [1988] ). Under the circumstances here, where claimant's conduct took place over a period from November 2014 to April 2015, substantial evidence supports the Board's finding that claimant engaged in disqualifying misconduct and its decision will not be disturbed (see Matter of Strang [Memory Gardens, Inc.-Commissioner of Labor], 112 A.D.3d 1254, 1255, 978 N.Y.S.2d 395 [2013] ; Matter of Farnsworth [Ellis Hosp.-Commissioner of Labor], 108 A.D.3d 1008, 1009, 968 N.Y.S.2d 919 [2013] ; Matter of Meagher [Commissioner of Labor], 89 A.D.3d 1269, 1269, 932 N.Y.S.2d 391 [2011] ), notwithstanding the fact that claimant did not receive any prior warnings. We have reviewed claimant's remaining contentions and find them to be unpersuasive.
ORDERED that the decision is affirmed, without costs.