On October 30, 2009 the Florida Supreme Court agreed to review Porter v. Florida Unemployment Appeals Commission, 1 So.3d 1101 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009), a case dealing with the denial of unemployment compensation benefits. The case dealt with an employee who, after providing her employer two weeks written notice, was terminated prior to the conclusion of the two week notice period.
Ms. Porter, who worked as a cook for Allen Children Centers, provider her employer with two weeks written notice of her resignation. Although the record is unclear as to whether the employer accepted Porter's resignation the employer did immediately run an ad to replace Porter. The employer hired a new cook who was able to start work three days before the end of Porter's two week notice period. Citing the inability to pay for two cooks the employer terminated Porter and told her to leave. Porter filed for unemployment compensation and at a hearing before an appeals referee was denied benefits. The appeals referee determined that Porter voluntarily left her position and was therefore disqualified from receiving benefits. Ms. Porter appealed to the Unemployment Appeals Commission who affirmed the referee's decision.
The Florida 1st District Court of Appeal, finding that the appeals referee's decision was not supported by competent and substantial evidence, reversed the decision of the Commission and ruled that Porter was eligible for unemployment compensation benefits. The Court found that because Porter had provided a date certain for her resignation, that termination prior to that date could not be considered voluntary. While the Court indicated that it found no other Florida cases addressing this issue it cited to a line of cases from other state courts and adopted the following holding:
" an employee whose employer terminates her employment prior to the effective date of her resignation has never left work voluntarily and therefore cannot be disqualified from receipt of benefits on that basis, even for the period following the employee's intended departure date."
Accordingly, employers, particularly those in the jurisdiction of the 1st DCA, should take care when terminating employees who have provided their employer with written notice of termination.
Prepared By:
Bill Dillon
