Yes, while many states were putting this particular exception into their unemployment law, I did extensive research into this particular possible "good cause" reason to quit a job.
The law is pretty distinct about the employee having to have a good valid work related reason to quit the job. That the burden of proof when the employee quits the job, was not fired, but voluntarily quit, is on the employee to show this proof. That while most personal reasons are important to the person, they are not something that the employer is required to deal with. Therefore, losing your child care, your transportation, having to move from the area, not being a morning person, these are personal reasons for quitting the job, but not good enough to get you approved for unemployemnt. There was an exception made in the case of "domestic violence." Then the states with this exception had to sit down and figure out exactly what this statute means.
The issue of domestic violence is usually related to a person who is kept at home or who is held and prohibited from coming to work due to an abusive family member keeping them from coming, or holding them hostage. This can be interpreted as a "good personal reason" to quit the job, and also is an exception to personal reasons being non-approvable.
The proof you think you have about your father being abusive...which is peculiar at the get go, for how many adults with children and jobs are being stalked and abused by their father???? anyhow, this issue is going to be for the most part, related to exactly what you told the employer when telling them you could not come back to the job unless they agreed to your choice of schedule. Okay, you had been on maternity leave. You were returning from maternity leave. But when it was time for you to return, you told your employer what? You told them that you would need a whole new schedule? Did you tell them the reason, specifically that you were being stalked by your father, and that you felt that you would be safer if you had a different schedule?
I agree with others here, the changing of your schedule very likely would not deter your father very long. If you had a restraining order in force, where he was prohibited from harrassing you at work, what difference would it make if you worked evenings or mornings? How did you think this would be something that would keep you from being harrassed?
Did you, in any correspondence or any conversation that you had with them about your return to work, did you mention child care or baby sitting issues? Did you tell them that if they did not give you the hours and shifts you were asking for, you could not return to work?
What you are supposed to ask, in the case of an employee quitting the job is very important question: What did you do to try to resolve this situation BEFORE you quit the job? Or in your case refused to come back to work from maternity leave. Did you at any time attempt to explain this situation with your father to the employer, and ask them to agree to the new schedule to what? Keep you safe? Confuse your stalker? Or did you say I need this because it will be better for me related to my baby sitting issues. I agree with swalsh, it will be very hard for the OP to show that the change of schedule would have helped her stalking issues at all. There is not a question of whether or not she was the victim of domestic violence, it is whether her employer could have helped her remedy the situation. I agree it will be tough to show this.
When you go into the hearing, I wouldn't try to quote the law and tell them what is what. All you'll be telling them is what you told your employer, why you felt it was necessary to quit the job, what you did to try to resolve the issue before finding it necessary to quit....If your employer did not fire you, then you are the one who refused to come back to work, she asked you to. And you refused because....?
Let us know how it works out.