What is the name of your state? GA
I was hired July 2004 by this company. I caught on very quickly in my Customer Service position. I was approached in August by a Sales manager in the company about one of his positions. I applied, but not after a big stink in the company. I didn't get it which I was totally okay with. At the end of September, my boss - the Office Manager, who was retiring, came to me with an offer for another position in our department - a promotion so to speak. There was another woman taking over the Office Manager position and they wanted me to take her job which was in collections and AR. At several meeting with the woman who was retiring, the lady who's position I would be taking over and the VP of HR, I expressed great concern tearfully over the fact that I wasn't sure I could do it. I had no experience in collections and very, very little in AR. They assured me I could do it, so I took the position. At my 90 day review, I received a 46 out of a possible 50 and was told that no one had ever received a raise at their 90 day review other than myself. My performance was stellar. However, I started falling behind slowly. I had been given a spiral notebook to learn the job from basically. The woman who's position I had taken was learning the office manager's job. In the early part of November, I was called in by my boss and the VP of HR. They told me how disappointed they were in me. It crushed me and I had to explain to them that I had just not had enough training to do what needed to be done. I was very upset. We discussed what I needed to improve in and they decided to let me give it another go. Strangely enough, the VP of HR also told me that when I applied for the sales position the sales manager had suggested I go for, she went straight away to him and told him he was not to consider me for his position. She told him that was not the direction they wanted to see me go in. I thought that was bold that she told me that. I guess they needed to coax me into the position that needed to be filled. Anyway, I tried very hard over the next few weeks working with my boss on getting caught up. Then, she started putting me on "clean up" projects. I started getting nervous, so I went to her and asked her how I was doing. She said I was doing better that there was still room for improvement, but that I was doing much better. Less than a week later, Dec 28, she along with the HR manager brought me into her office and told me that I had made some of the same mistakes and they were going to have to fire me. The HR manager handed me my separation notice and told me that this is what I would take to Unemployment.
Here's the sticky part and one that I'm surely not proud of. I was invited to another department's christmas party. It was totally company sponsored - food and drinks. Needless to say, I was in a minor fender bender on the way home and ended up being charged with a DUI. I blew just over the legal limit in GA. Honestly, I was paying more attention to the street signs b/c I was afraid of getting lost on the way home. I have not been conviced of these charges as they are still in the court system. This company has an on site attorney and they employ delivery drivers and have sales reps in the field. I'm sure that he checks to see if any of their employees "get into trouble" on the road and he found out about my case much like the other attorney's who sent me solicitations in the mail concerning DUI defense. However, I'm not 100% sure of that. I, however, had told NO ONE at work about the incident. 11 days later, I was fired. Two weeks after I was fired, a new company policy went out stating that there would be no more company sponsored parties.
So, I filed for UI and have been receiving benefits for three weeks. I have received a letter in the mail stating they are appealing my benefits. They state I was fired for "work related misconduct". My thing is that if I was fired for the DUI and they had been honest with me, I would have never gone to the unemployment office to seek benefits. I would have tucked my tail much like it already is over this incident and gone about my way. This incident was very uncharacteristic of me and I have just been horrified with the whole matter. Now, understand that I am not 100% sure that's what their talking about, but I don't know what else it could be.
Now, since they told me I was fired b/c I couldn't manage the job or kept making the same mistakes, but now have come back and said I was fired for "work related misconduct" which more than likely relates to the DUI and are appealing my benefits, do I have any rights? Was I fired under a false pretense? Will I be able to fight them in the appeal hearing? And, what would be my best approach?
Thank you for your time and consideration.
I was hired July 2004 by this company. I caught on very quickly in my Customer Service position. I was approached in August by a Sales manager in the company about one of his positions. I applied, but not after a big stink in the company. I didn't get it which I was totally okay with. At the end of September, my boss - the Office Manager, who was retiring, came to me with an offer for another position in our department - a promotion so to speak. There was another woman taking over the Office Manager position and they wanted me to take her job which was in collections and AR. At several meeting with the woman who was retiring, the lady who's position I would be taking over and the VP of HR, I expressed great concern tearfully over the fact that I wasn't sure I could do it. I had no experience in collections and very, very little in AR. They assured me I could do it, so I took the position. At my 90 day review, I received a 46 out of a possible 50 and was told that no one had ever received a raise at their 90 day review other than myself. My performance was stellar. However, I started falling behind slowly. I had been given a spiral notebook to learn the job from basically. The woman who's position I had taken was learning the office manager's job. In the early part of November, I was called in by my boss and the VP of HR. They told me how disappointed they were in me. It crushed me and I had to explain to them that I had just not had enough training to do what needed to be done. I was very upset. We discussed what I needed to improve in and they decided to let me give it another go. Strangely enough, the VP of HR also told me that when I applied for the sales position the sales manager had suggested I go for, she went straight away to him and told him he was not to consider me for his position. She told him that was not the direction they wanted to see me go in. I thought that was bold that she told me that. I guess they needed to coax me into the position that needed to be filled. Anyway, I tried very hard over the next few weeks working with my boss on getting caught up. Then, she started putting me on "clean up" projects. I started getting nervous, so I went to her and asked her how I was doing. She said I was doing better that there was still room for improvement, but that I was doing much better. Less than a week later, Dec 28, she along with the HR manager brought me into her office and told me that I had made some of the same mistakes and they were going to have to fire me. The HR manager handed me my separation notice and told me that this is what I would take to Unemployment.
Here's the sticky part and one that I'm surely not proud of. I was invited to another department's christmas party. It was totally company sponsored - food and drinks. Needless to say, I was in a minor fender bender on the way home and ended up being charged with a DUI. I blew just over the legal limit in GA. Honestly, I was paying more attention to the street signs b/c I was afraid of getting lost on the way home. I have not been conviced of these charges as they are still in the court system. This company has an on site attorney and they employ delivery drivers and have sales reps in the field. I'm sure that he checks to see if any of their employees "get into trouble" on the road and he found out about my case much like the other attorney's who sent me solicitations in the mail concerning DUI defense. However, I'm not 100% sure of that. I, however, had told NO ONE at work about the incident. 11 days later, I was fired. Two weeks after I was fired, a new company policy went out stating that there would be no more company sponsored parties.
So, I filed for UI and have been receiving benefits for three weeks. I have received a letter in the mail stating they are appealing my benefits. They state I was fired for "work related misconduct". My thing is that if I was fired for the DUI and they had been honest with me, I would have never gone to the unemployment office to seek benefits. I would have tucked my tail much like it already is over this incident and gone about my way. This incident was very uncharacteristic of me and I have just been horrified with the whole matter. Now, understand that I am not 100% sure that's what their talking about, but I don't know what else it could be.
Now, since they told me I was fired b/c I couldn't manage the job or kept making the same mistakes, but now have come back and said I was fired for "work related misconduct" which more than likely relates to the DUI and are appealing my benefits, do I have any rights? Was I fired under a false pretense? Will I be able to fight them in the appeal hearing? And, what would be my best approach?
Thank you for your time and consideration.
