JEFFREY M. PERZ, 
Appellant, 
 
vs.

REVIEW BOARD OF THE INDIANA 
DEPARTMENT OF WORKFORCE 
DEVELOPMENT and INDIANA BELL 
TELEPHONE COMPANY, 
Appellees. 


Jeffrey M. Perz (“Perz”) appeals the decision of the Review Board of the Indiana 
Department of Workforce Development (“the Board’) with respect to his claim for 
unemployment benefits. He raises two issues: 

I. Whether the Board erred when it denied Perz’s request to submit 
additional evidence pursuant to Indiana Administrative Code title 646, 
section 3-12-8(b); and, 

II. Whether the Board’s conclusion that Perz was terminated by his 
employer for just cause is contrary to law. 
Concluding the Board did not err when it denied the request to submit additional 
evidence and that the Board’s conclusion is not contrary to law, we affirm. 
Facts and Procedural History 

Perz was employed as a full-time customer systems technician by Indiana Bell 
Telephone Company from December 3, 2000, through May 18, 2004. As part of his 
responsibilities, Perz was required to complete a job ticket including the time, location, 
and duration of each line repair job he performed. In April 2004, Indiana Bell compared 
Perz’s job tickets from the previous month with the records from the GPS tracking 
system installed on the truck Perz used. This investigation revealed nearly thirty 
occasions where Perz indicated that he was at a jobsite when he was actually at his home 
address. Indiana Bell terminated Perz’s employment because he falsified company 
records and misused company time and property. 

Perz filed an application for unemployment benefits with the Indiana Department 
of Workforce Development (“IDWD”). On July 1, 2004, an IDWD deputy determined 
that Perz was not discharged for just cause and was therefore entitled to unemployment 
benefits. Indiana Bell appealed the deputy’s determination. After a hearing on 
September 15, 2005, an administrative law judge reversed the deputy’s decision and 
found that Perz had been discharged for just cause for falsification of company records 
and misuse of company property and time. Perz contended at the hearing that he 
sometimes went home between jobs to treat severe headaches he suffered as the result of 
several head traumas. Perz appealed to the Board and requested leave to submit 
additional evidence. On November 10, 2005, the Board denied Perz’s request to submit 
additional evidence and affirmed the ALJ’s decision. Perz now appeals. 

Standard of Review 

The Indiana Unemployment Compensation Act provides that “[a]ny decision of 
the review board shall be conclusive and binding as to all questions of fact.” Ind. Code § 
22-4-17-12(a) (2005). When the decision is challenged as contrary to law, the reviewing 
court is limited to a two-part inquiry into the “sufficiency of the facts found to sustain the 
decision” and the “sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the findings of facts.” Ind. Code 
§ 22-4-17-12(f) (2005). This standard calls upon this court to review: (1) determinations 
of specific or basic underlying facts; (2) conclusions or inferences from those facts, or 
determinations of ultimate facts; and (3) conclusions of law. McHugh v. Review Bd. of 
Ind. Dep’t of Workforce Dev., 842 N.E.2d 436, 440 (Ind. Ct. App. 2006) (citations 
omitted). 

Review of the Board’s findings of basic fact are subject to a “substantial evidence” 
standard of review. Id. In this analysis, we neither reweigh the evidence nor assess the 
credibility of witnesses and consider only the evidence most favorable to the Board’s 
findings. Id. Reversal is warranted only if there is no substantial evidence to support the 
Board’s findings. Id. The Board’s determinations of ultimate facts involve an inference 
or deduction based upon the findings of basic fact that is typically reviewed to ensure that 
the Board’s inference is reasonable. Id. Finally, we review conclusions of law to 
determine whether the Board correctly interpreted and applied the law. Id. (citing 
Parkison v. James River Corp

I. Request to Submit Additional Evidence 

First, Perz contends that the Board erred when it denied his request to submit 
additional evidence pursuant to Indiana Administrative Code title 646. We disagree. 
Section 3-12-8(b) provides, in pertinent part: 

Each hearing before the review board shall be confined to the evidence 
submitted before the administrative law judge unless it is an original 
hearing. Provided, however, the review board may hear or procure 
additional evidence upon its own motion, or upon written application of 
either party, and for good cause shown, together with a showing of good 
reason why such additional evidence was not procured and introduced at 
the hearing before the administrative law judge. 

Ind. Admin. Code tit. 646, sec. 3-12-8(b) (2006). Thus, the Board has discretion to deny 
a request for a further hearing based on allegedly new evidence if the applicant fails to 
present a good reason for the failure to present the evidence at the original hearing. Best 
Lock Corp. v. Review Bd. of Ind. Dep’t of Employment and Training Servs., 572 N.E.2d 
520, 528-29 (Ind. Ct. App. 1991). 

Perz argues that the Board erred when it denied his request to submit his medical 
records and an affidavit from his mother stating that she had notified his supervisor of his 
headaches. First, we note that the assorted documents Perz attached to his appeal as 
additional evidence are duplicates of the evidence submitted at the hearing before the 
ALJ. Appellant’s App. pp. 17-79; Ex. Vol., Claimant’s Ex. 1. Therefore, this is not new 
evidence. Perz did not attach the purported affidavit from his mother to his appeal, but 
only asserts that she averred that she had spoken to his supervisor about his headaches. 
However, at the hearing before the ALJ, Perz admitted that he did not inform Indiana 
Bell that he suffered from headaches and needed time at home during the day to treat 
them. Tr. pp. 15, 40. Thus, Perz failed to offer good reason for the Board to admit 
additional evidence and his request was properly denied. 

II. Just Cause Discharge 

Next, Perz challenges the Board’s determination that he was terminated for just 
cause. In Indiana, an unemployed claimant is ineligible for unemployment benefits if he 
is discharged for just cause pursuant to Indiana Code section 22-4-15-1, which provides: 
“Discharge for just cause” as used in this section is defined to include but not be 
limited to: 

* * * 
(8) . . . or for any breach of duty in connection with work which is reasonably 
owed an employer by an employee. 

Ind. Code § 22-4-15-1(d) (2005). Discharge for just cause in connection with 
employment includes discharge for the employee’s willful disregard of the employer’s 
interest or the employee’s willful disregard of the employee’s duties. Osborn v. Review 
Bd. of the Ind. Employment Sec. Div., 178 Ind. App. 22, 27, 381 N.E.2d 495, 498 (1978). 

Perz contends that he was not terminated for just cause because his “job quantity 
and quality never suffered as a result of his treatments.” Br. of Appellant at 9. However, 
the Board found and Perz admitted that he deviated from his route to take breaks at home 
in violation of his employer’s policy. Appellant’s App. p. 15; Tr. pp. 37-38. Indiana 
Bell’s report comparing Perz’s job tickets to the GPS system on his vehicle showed that 
in March and April of 2004, Perz spent a total of 1253 minutes (approximately twenty 
hours) at his home when he reported that he was at a job location. Ex. Vol., Employer’s 
Ex. 2. Thus, the Board’s determination that Perz breached his duty to his employer is 
clearly supported by substantial evidence contained within the record. Accordingly, the 
Board’s conclusion that Perz was terminated for just cause is not contrary to law. 

Conclusion 

The Board did not err when it denied Perz’s request to submit additional evidence 
and the Board’s conclusion that Perz was terminated for just cause is not contrary to law. 

Affirmed. 
NAJAM, J., and MAY, J., concur.