Matter of Mesagna (Commissioner of Labor)
2009 NY Slip Op 01061 [59 AD3d 801]
February 11, 2009
Appellate Division, Third Department
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.
As corrected through Wednesday, April 1, 2009


In the Matter of the Claim of Ronald Mesagna, Appellant. Commissioner of Labor, Respondent.

[*1] Ronald Mesagna, Utica, appellant pro se.

Andrew M. Cuomo, Attorney General, New York City (Bessie Bazile of counsel), for respondent.

Appeal from a decision of the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board, filed October 9, 2007, which ruled that claimant was disqualified from receiving unemployment insurance benefits because his employment was terminated due to misconduct.

Claimant, a superintendent at an apartment complex, was discharged in February 2007 after he was arrested in connection with an incident wherein he threatened a tenant with a baseball bat. The Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board ultimately ruled that claimant was disqualified from receiving unemployment insurance benefits because he had lost his employment as a result of misconduct. This appeal by claimant ensued.

We affirm. "An employee's contentious or threatening behavior in the workplace may constitute disqualifying misconduct" (Matter of Irizarri [Commissioner of Labor], 45 AD3d 1149, 1149 [2007] [citation omitted]). In the case at bar, claimant's assertion that he never threatened the tenant created a credibility issue for resolution by the Board, and the testimony from the employer's property manager provided substantial evidence to support the Board's determination that claimant was fired due to misconduct (see id.).

Cardona, P.J., Mercure, Malone Jr., Kavanagh and Stein, JJ., concur. Ordered that the decision is affirmed, without costs.