LITTLE ROCK — A employee at an Arkansas McDonald’s was not being insubordinate when he refused to prepare food while dirty from cleaning the parking lot, the state Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.
The court overturned a ruling by the state Board of Review that denied unemployment benefits to Elmer Marshall, who was fired from a McDonald’s restaurant in Stuttgart on Sept. 21, 2010.
Marshall had been employed at the restaurant for five years as a maintenance worker. On the day of his firing, he had been cleaning the parking lot when a supervisor, Gonzalo Zayago, summoned him inside and told him to make french fries.
Marshall said he was dirty and had been using chemicals all day, and he asked for a clean shirt, which Zayago refused to provide. He also told Zayago he had never worked in food preparation and had never been taught how to make fries, but Zayago insisted that he make fries anyway.
Marshall refused, and Zayago fired him.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
At a hearing before the state Appeal Tribunal, the store’s manager, Delores Mason, said Marshall was fired for being insubordinate and refusing to cooperate. When asked why a maintenance worker was ordered to make fries, Mason said the store was at its peak time for business and the owner wanted everyone “doing something.”
The Appeals Tribunal ruled that Marshall was not eligible for benefits, and the state Board of Review upheld that decision. On Wednesday a three-judge panel of the state Court of Appeals reversed the Board of Review and said Marshall is entitled to receive unemployment benefits.
“Marshall’s refusal to cook the french fries did not demonstrate any wrongful intent or evil design,” Judge Doug Martin wrote in the court’s opinion. “In fact, Marshall acted in his employer’s best interest by not complying with the supervisor’s request, which would have created a health and safety hazard.
“The supervisor was well aware of McDonald’s peak business times, and Marshall should not be denied benefits based on the supervisor’s failure to schedule a sufficient number of qualified staff to work in the kitchen area,” Martin wrote.
Calls to a listed telephone number for the restaurant went unanswered Wednesday.