A man fired from his job at an international marine services company in 2017 for attending a conference when he'd been told the stay home lost his appeal before a state court last month.
In a seven-page memorandum opinion issued June 16, a Fourteenth Court of Appeals three-judge panel affirmed a lower court's ruling that the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) was justified in denying unemployment benefits to Georgios Angelis.
The TWC's decision followed Braemar Technical Services, Inc., decision to fire Angelis' from his position at their Houston location.
"This court's task is not to reweigh the evidence, but to determine whether the trial court was presented with substantial evidence to support the TWC's decision," the memorandum opinion said.
The lower court did have access to Angelis' affidavit and travel documents, which he attached to his response to the motion for summary judgment that the district court granted.
"There is no indication the trial court did not consider that evidence," the memorandum opinion said. "Even if the trial court believed Angelis' affidavit raised a genuine issue of material fact, which is the usual standard to avoid summary judgment, the trial court was required to grant summary judgment unless Angelis proved the TWC's decision was not supported by substantial evidence."
Angelis did not prove his case, the appeal court panel said.
"We conclude Angelis did not satisfy that burden," the memorandum opinion said. "The trial court properly granted summary judgment."
Justice Kevin Jewell wrote the memorandum opinion in which Justice Meagan Hassan and Justice Tracy Christopher concurred.
Braemer is a "a leading international provider of knowledge and skill-based services to the shipping, marine, and energy industries" with locations on most of the world's continents, according to its website.
Angelis was a principal surveyor and an at-will employee until 2017 when he went to a conference in New York after being told to stay home "so that he could focus on his backlog of work," the background portion of the memorandum opinion said.
He was fired for "insubordination and other reasons," the memorandum opinion said.