Medeiros v. Hawai'i Department of Labor & Industrial Relations

**What Happened** Maria Medeiros worked at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel and was fired after she put her hands around a coworker's neck. Medeiros said she was just joking around, but the hotel had a strict "zero tolerance" policy against workplace violence. After being fired, she applied for unemployment benefits, but the Hawaii Department of Labor denied her claim, saying she was fired for workplace misconduct. **The Court's Decision** The Hawaii Supreme Court sided with the state agency and upheld the denial of unemployment benefits. The court ruled that even though Medeiros claimed she was joking, her actions violated the hotel's zero tolerance violence policy. The court found that putting hands around someone's neck showed "willful or wanton disregard" for her employer's rules and interests, which qualified as misconduct that disqualifies someone from receiving unemployment benefits. **What This Means for Workers** This case shows that workplace violence policies are taken very seriously, even when employees claim they were "just joking." Workers can lose both their job and their right to unemployment benefits if their actions violate clear company policies about violence or safety. Always take workplace policies seriously, especially those involving physical contact with coworkers.