In re the Claim of Kunkel

We respectfully dissent. Not all terminations arise from a “level of misconduct such as to disqualify [an employee] from receiving unemployment insurance benefits” (Matter of Spierto [Commissioner of Labor], 78 AD3d 1365, 1365 [2010]). Claimant was terminated after 35 years of employment for removing recyclable products from his workplace — later returned — under circumstances that the Administrative Law *1585Judge found failed to reveal that he had knowledge or notice that his actions would jeopardize his job. Significantly, there was an utter lack of evidence demonstrating that the removal of…