## Facts

- On September 23, 2004, Michael A. Chung began working for SMSC Gaming Enterprises (SMSC) as a player-services representative at a casino.
- The position required Chung to hold and maintain a valid gaming license issued by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Gaming Commission (the commission), a licensing entity separate from SMSC.
- The licensing requirement was disclosed in the employment application Chung completed, and he understood that certain criminal convictions could affect his eligibility for a gaming license.
- On February 8, 2005, Chung received a traffic ticket for careless driving and making an improper lane change.
- In September 2005, after a hearing, the commission voted unanimously to revoke Chung’s gaming license based on the February 2005 conduct.
- On October 5, 2005, SMSC terminated Chung because he no longer held the required gaming license.
- Chung applied for unemployment benefits. An unemployment-law judge (ULJ) determined he was disqualified due to employment misconduct, reasoning that SMSC could reasonably expect him to avoid behavior that would cause loss of the required license.
- On reconsideration, a second ULJ affirmed, finding Chung knew the gaming license was a condition of employment and failed to maintain it.
- Chung sought review in the Minnesota Court of Appeals. He argued (1) the ULJ’s decision rested on a mistaken belief that his driver’s license (rather than his gaming license) had been revoked, (2) the gaming-license revocation was improper, and (3) careless driving did not amount to employment misconduct.

## Issues

1. Whether the ULJ’s decision was unsupported because it allegedly relied on an incorrect assumption about revocation of Chung’s driver’s license rather than his gaming license.
2. Whether Chung’s loss of a required gaming license—resulting from his own conduct—constituted “employment misconduct” disqualifying him from unemployment benefits.
3. Whether an unemployment-benefits proceeding is a proper forum to contest the commission’s decision to revoke Chung’s gaming license.

## Decision

- The Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed the ULJ’s determination that Chung was disqualified from unemployment benefits.
- The court treated the case as turning on the loss of Chung’s gaming license (a condition of employment) and his discharge for failing to maintain it; any confusion about a driver’s license did not change that analysis.
- The court held that Chung’s conduct leading to the revocation of the required gaming license supported a finding of employment misconduct because SMSC had the right to reasonably expect him to avoid behavior that jeopardized his ability to keep that license.
- The court declined to review whether the commission acted properly in revoking the gaming license, because that challenge was outside the scope of the unemployment-benefits appeal.

## Legal Principles

- “Employment misconduct” under Minnesota unemployment law includes intentional, negligent, or indifferent conduct that seriously violates the standards of behavior an employer has the right to reasonably expect, or that shows a substantial lack of concern for the employment.
- When a license or credential is a stated condition of employment and the employee knows it must be maintained, the employee’s failure to keep the license may amount to disqualifying misconduct when the loss is caused by the employee’s own behavior and results in the inability to perform the job.
- In unemployment appeals, appellate courts defer to the ULJ’s factual findings when supported by substantial evidence, while reviewing the legal conclusion of “misconduct” based on those findings.
- An unemployment-benefits proceeding focuses on eligibility for benefits and is not a vehicle to relitigate or collaterally attack an independent licensing authority’s revocation decision.

## Conclusion

Because Chung’s job required a valid gaming license, he knew he had to maintain that license, and his own conduct led to the commission’s revocation of it, the court held that his discharge was for employment misconduct and affirmed the denial of unemployment benefits, without considering the merits of the commission’s licensing decision.


Chung v. SMSC Gaming Enterprises, 2007 WL 3537 (2007)