A Crookston, Minnesota employee challenged an unemployment-law judge’s decision that found him ineligible for U.C. benefits for engaging in employment misconduct – urinating in public. What this employee may have lacked in discretion appears to have been compensated for in sheer persistence, for he appealed his case all the way to the Minnesota Court of Appeals. Curiously, the appellant did not contest that he was guilty of urinating in public, instead, he mounted a two-pronged defense to excuse his decision to relieve himself in an alley.

Argument #1: His employer’s handbook did not define misconduct to explicitly include public urination, only that employees were “expected” to conduct themselves  “in a professional manner.” The court easily dismissed this “no one told me” argument, noting that employers need not have express policies to find certain obvious behaviors constitute “misconduct.” The court added that public urination violated the Crookston city code, therefore, the policy on professionalism inherently included the concept that employees follow the law in the course of their employment as agents of the company.

Argument #2: The employee claimed he a bladder infection, coupled with prostate problems and a prior injury that made him urinate without forewarning as soon as he felt the urge.  Addressing the employee’s excuses, the court did say that if true these facts may have entitled him to reasonable accommodations. However, public urination would never qualify as an accommodation.  More importantly, because he never raised these excuses prior to being fired, nor did he provide any supporting medical evidence at his U.C. hearing, the court agreed with the ULJ that the employee’s testimony “was exaggerated and not believable.” Instead, the judge found a more likely explanation for this fellow’s behavior was his “indifference towards using public restrooms.”

Just when you think you’ve heard it all in what can be a wacky world of employee relations, a case like this trickles in (pardon the pun).

Questions? Contact attorney James B. Sherman in our Minnesota office by email or at (952) 746-1700