Employee’s loss of employment as a result of his or her “off-duty” misconduct disqualifies the individual for unemployment insurance benefits
The Appellate Division affirmed the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board’s decision that disqualified an applicant for unemployment insurance benefits based on its finding that, among other things, the applicant for such benefits had left his employment following misconduct unrelated to his work.
The applicant had resigned form his position "in lieu of termination" following his arrest on multiple counts of aggravated harassment* in connection with his allegedly having made harassing phone calls to various women in the course of activities “unrelated to his employment."
The Appeal Board had rejected the applicant’s claim that he was entitled to benefits because his termination “stemmed from activity unrelated to his employment.”
The Appellate Division ruled that "[m]isconduct committed during nonworking hours, which raises serious questions as to a worker['s] integrity, bears a relationship to his [or her] work within the meaning of . . . the Labor Law."
* The applicant ultimately entered a plead guilty to two of the charges filed against him, which were later reduced to harassment in the second degree.
The decision is posted on the Internet at: