Fired for insubordination? No unemployment benefits

Employees have to abide by reasonable rules whether they like them or not. Insubordination remains a reason to deny unemployment compensation to terminated workers.

Recent case: Kyle worked as a press mechanic and was caught watching a DVD in his supervisor’s office during a shift. He was then asked to meet with the supervisor to discuss his actions, but refused. Instead, he left his shift three hours early without permission and was discharged for insubordination.

Kyle applied for unemployment compensation benefits and didn’t deny viewing the DVD, refusing to meet with his supervisor or walking out early. He argued instead that this wasn’t serious misconduct. He lost that argument at both the initial and appellate level. (Latzke v. Silgan Container Manufacturing, A13-1107, Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2014)