RENDERED: DECEMBER 1, 2006; 2:00 P.M. 

Commonwealth of Kentucky 
Court of Appeals 

CAMERON M. WILSON APPELLANT 

v.

KENTUCKY UNEMPLOYMENT APPELLEES 
INSURANCE COMMISSION; 
BIG LOTS STORES, Inc. 

OPINION 
AFFIRMING 
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** 
BEFORE: JOHNSON AND WINE, JUDGES; MILLER,1 SPECIAL JUDGE. 
MILLER, SPECIAL JUDGE: Cameron M. Wilson appeals from an 
Opinion and Order of the Jefferson Circuit Court upholding a 
decision of the Kentucky Unemployment Insurance Commission 
(KUIC) denying his claim for unemployment benefits. Because 
Wilson was discharged for misconduct and is thereby disqualified 
from receiving unemployment benefits, we affirm. 

Wilson began working for Big Lots Stores, Inc. in May 
2000. He was assigned to a Louisville, Kentucky, outlet, and in 
September 2004, was employed as an assistant store manager. 
On September 23, 2004, at approximately 4:00 p.m., a 
shoplifter stole a fifty-two inch plasma television from the 
store. Wilson was the only manager on duty during this time. A 
cashier spotted the shoplifter and was able to get the license 
plate number of his vehicle before he left the parking lot. The 
theft was also recorded by store security cameras. Wilson, 
however, failed to report the theft to store management or the 
police, and the theft was not reported until the next day. 
Because of his failure to report the theft, Wilson was 
discharged.2 Wilson subsequently filed a claim for unemployment 
benefits, which was denied. Following a hearing, the Referee 
determined that Wilson was discharged for misconduct and was 
disqualified from receiving benefits, and affirmed the denial. 
The Referee’s decision was upheld by KIUC. Wilson appealed to 
Jefferson Circuit Court, which upheld KIUC’s decision. This 
appeal followed. 

The legislative purpose in enacting the unemployment 
compensation act was “to provide benefits for only those 
employees who have been forced to leave their employment because 
of forces beyond their control and not because of any voluntary 
act of their own.” Kentucky Unemployment Insurance Commission 
v. Kroehler Manufacturing Company, 352 S.W.2d 212, 214 (Ky. 
1961). Upon review of an administrative agency's adjudicatory 
decision, an appeal court's authority is somewhat limited. See 
American Beauty Homes Corp. v. Louisville & Jefferson County 
Planning & Zoning Commission, 379 S.W.2d 450 (Ky. 1964)(stating 
judicial review involves whether an administrative agency's 
decision is arbitrary). The judicial standard of review of an 
unemployment benefit decision is whether the KUIC's findings of 
fact were supported by substantial evidence and whether the 
agency correctly applied the law to the facts. Burch v. Taylor 
Drug Store, Inc., 965 S.W.2d 830, 834-35 (Ky. App. 1998)(citing 
Southern Bell Telephone & Telegraph Co. v. Kentucky Unemployment 
Insurance Commission, 437 S.W.2d 775, 778 (Ky. 1969)); Kentucky 
Unemployment Insurance Commission v. Stirrat, 688 S.W.2d 750, 
751-52 (Ky.App. 1984); Tackett v. Kentucky Unemployment 
Insurance Commission, 630 S.W.2d 76, 78 (Ky.App. 1982). 

Substantial evidence is defined as evidence that, 
taken alone or in light of all the evidence, has sufficient 
probative value to induce conviction in the minds of reasonable 
people. See Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp. v. Golightly, 976 
S.W.2d 409, 414 (Ky. 1998); Piper v. Singer Co., 663 S.W.2d 
761, 763 (Ky.App. 1984); and Barren River Mental Health-Mental 
Retardation Board, Inc. v. Bailey, 783 S.W.2d 886, 888 (Ky.App. 
1990)(quoting Kentucky State Racing Commission v. Fuller, 481 
S.W.2d 298, 308 (Ky. 1972)). If there is substantial evidence 
to support the agency's findings, a court must defer to that 
finding even though there is evidence to the contrary. See 
generally Whittaker v. Rowland, 998 S.W.2d 479, 481 (Ky. 1999); 
and Kentucky Commission on Human Rights v. Fraser, 625 S.W.2d 
852, 855 (Ky. 1981). A court may not substitute its opinion as 
to the credibility of the witnesses, the weight given the 
evidence, or the inferences to be drawn from the evidence. See 
Burch, supra at 834; Energy Regulatory Commission v. Kentucky 
Power Co., 605 S.W.2d 46, 50 (Ky.App. 1980); Railroad Commission 
v. Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Co., 490 S.W.2d 763, 766 (Ky. 
1973). A court's function in administrative matters is one of 
review, not reinterpretation. See Kentucky Unemployment 
Insurance Commission v. King, 657 S.W.2d 250, 251 (Ky.App. 
1983); Piper, supra at 763. “The fact that a reviewing court 
may not have come to the same conclusion regarding the same 
findings of fact does not warrant substitution of a court's 
discretion for that of an administrative agency.” Kentucky 
Unemployment Insurance Commission v. Landmark Community 
Newspapers of Kentucky, Inc., 91 S.W.3d 575, 582 (Ky.2002). 

The essential findings of fact in this case – that Big 
Lots had a uniformly enforced policy requiring employees to 
report theft to management; that a major theft occurred on 
September 23, 2004; that Wilson had knowledge of and failed to 
report the theft; and that Wilson accordingly violated the 
uniformly enforced policy – are all supported by substantial 
evidence. 

At the November 16, 2004, Referee hearing District 
Manager Doug Gaskins testified on behalf of Big Lots. Gaskins 
testified that upon his initial employment, Wilson was given a 
copy of company’s employee handbook, which, among other things, 
included the provision that employees may be terminated for 
Violation of proper store procedures and/or 
failure of store associates to perform 
established procedures. 

and 
Violation of any other Company 
rules/regulations or any other 
action/activity that is deemed to be 
detrimental to the orderly operation of our 
Company. 

While not specifically set forth, Gaskins testified 
that the foregoing provisions included the requirement that an 
employee report a theft of which he has knowledge. Gaskins also 
testified that Wilson had been orally advised that he was 
required to report thefts from the store. While Wilson appears, 
in his brief, to disclaim knowledge of this policy,3 Gaskins 
3 At the Referee hearing, upon the advice of counsel, Wilson invoked his Fifth 
Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and did not testify. 

Accordingly, only the store’s version of events was presented at the hearing. 
testified otherwise, and, moreover, we note that the reporting 
of theft is an inherent duty of a store manager. Accordingly, 
the findings to the effect that Wilson had knowledge of the 
policy is supported by substantial evidence. 

Moreover, Gaskins testified that when the theft 
occurred, Wilson was the manager on duty, and that he failed to 
report the theft. This testimony is substantial evidence 
supporting the findings below, and is accordingly binding upon 
our review. 

An employee is not entitled to unemployment benefits 
if he is discharged for misconduct. KRS4 341.370. The employer 
has the burden of proving that the employee's actions 
constituted misconduct. Burch v. Taylor Drug Store, 965 S.W.2d 
830, 835 (Ky.App. 1998). 

Here, the employer met its burden of demonstrating 
that Wilson failed to report a theft, and that this failure 
constituted misconduct pursuant to store policy. Accordingly, 
Wilson is disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits. 
Notwithstanding the foregoing, Wilson alleges that 
nevertheless KIUC’s decision was improper because much of the 
testimony presented on behalf of the employer was based upon 
hearsay evidence and, absent the hearsay evidence, there is not 
sufficient evidence to support KIUC’s decision. We disagree. 

Hearsay evidence is admissible in an administrative 
hearing if it is the type of evidence that reasonable and 
prudent persons would rely on in their daily affairs. KRS 
13B.090(1). This is true even though the hearsay evidence alone 
is not sufficient in itself to support an agency's findings of 
fact unless it would be admissible over objections in civil 
actions. Mollette v. Kentucky Personnel Bd., 997 S.W.2d 492, 
495 (Ky.App. 1999). 

As Gaskins was testifying as the company 
representative at the Referee hearing, we conclude that his 
testimony generally falls within the hearsay exception contained 
in KRE5 803(6), which provides a hearsay exception for records of 
regularly conducted activity. Under the general rule that 
hearsay is permitted in administrative hearings, and upon 
application of KRE 803(6), Gaskins’ testimony was proper and 
comprises sufficient evidence to support the relevant findings 
in this proceeding. 

Wilson makes various other enumerated arguments which 
we construe as overlapping and redundant with the foregoing. We 
will not specifically address those arguments other than to note 
that the employer properly established its burden of proof 
through admissible evidence that Wilson violated store policy by 
failing to report a major theft, that such failure was 
misconduct under KRS 341.370(1)(b), and that he was accordingly 
disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits. 

For the foregoing reasons the judgment of the 
Jefferson Circuit Court is affirmed. 

ALL CONCUR.