EDD Appeals Board

[Tommy Farris]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California



I have been receiving unemployment benefits from a previous employer. He is appealing the fact that I have been awarded benefits very strongly. I feel I am within my rights as I was a w2 employee , though he claims otherwise. There was no misconduct and i was not a voluntary quit.

Basically, he orginally appealed my claim and it went to an investigator, and then my employer appealed the decision when the edd investigator found in my favor. Then the case went before an administrative law judge and the judge found in my favor as well.

Now it is going to the appeals board and I have the option to submit a written response.


Also I should mention that he has obtained counsel to represent him in this phase of the hearing. He represented himself at the hearing

My questions are

What should my written response consist of (if i should even write one), ie what should, and what should I not mention.

Also what types of outcomes are possible at this point in the process.

I am still currently receiving benefits.

Thank you for your time.

 

[Hot Topic]

It's going to take weeks and possibly months for your case to be reviewed. Again. There's a good chance that he won't pursue the matter when he finds out how long it's going to take.

 

[Tommy Farris]

Thank you for the quick response!

Actually I have a deadline to submit the written response by and I am hoping some insight can be shared with me on how to go about submitting one.

Due to some circumstances I feel the employer may pursue this further as it may set a precedent for a handful of other employees he had been not paying payroll taxes on and claiming as contractor while asking them to perform employer employee duties.

Thanks again.

 

[commentator]

What you have said already has worked fine for you. Even if you do review your position, that you were NOT a contract employer, that you were under the direction of the company in ways that made you an employee, I wouldn't say anything I had not already said in my previous comments.

When he may decide to drop this is when he finds that he is not allowed to submit any fresh information. I gather he told you your services were no longer required, and that he is arguing that he had a right to do this without your receiving benefits since you were a contractor.

Now he cannot come up with any new information such as that he fired you for not doing a good job or for stealing or absenteeism or something. He can only argue that he was legitimately using you as a contractor, not just calling you one in order to avoid his tax responsibilities.

Honestly, I'd just keep on drawing and certifying right now. This fellow is also being looked at by the state agencies' tax collections unit. He's got plenty of 'splaining to do and what you have already said has worked for you up to this point. I would do nothng but reiterate it, if I did send in something.

What NOT to mention: Anything that has happened since you stopped working for him, such as how he has lied at the hearing, how badly you needed the money, how deserving you are, etc. You might want to comment on or elaborate on something he presented in that hearing where he represented himself (to make your case better, of course) but that'd be about all.

 

[pattytx]

Just don't ever use the phrase "contract employee"; there is no such legal thing. Use the term "independent contractor", as in "I wasn't one".

 

[swalsh411]

What more would you need to say? It's already in the record that your position is that you did not quit and there is no misconduct. The burden of proof rests entirely on your former employer to show otherwise. Avoid the temptation the get into unnecessary irrelevant details. Keep it simple. If you didn't quit, and there was no misconduct, then you shouldn't be denied benefits.

 

[Tommy Farris]

Thank You for the responses.

I will just keep the written response short and sweet. Leaving out the fact that my employer did indeed lie and tried to intimidate me in the initial claims process.

He was caught in a few lies by the judge himself and this was reflected in the ruling.

I was concerned about the fact that a lawyer was obtained and figured there may have been something that I may have overlooked in the procedure.

Employer claimed misconduct but fabricated the "proof" and even admitted the misconduct claim was based on second hand information at the hearing (ie he completely made it up and did not want to purger himself I suppose).

Again thank you for the help.

Any one know what the usual time line for these rulings are?

 

[commentator]

In this economy and in today's situation with social services agencies, it is not possible to predict. Three or four weeks used to be a reasonable time for something like this to take. But you are drawing now, right? You just keep filing each week and hope for the best.