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NJ Unemployment Appeal

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gmazz06

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New Jersey

A friend of mine was terminated from her job for not showing up to work because she was attending the funeral of my aunt. She has been living with me for 2 years and she has been assisting in the aid of my aunt for over a year now. Her boss told her she was allowed to attend the funeral and if possible come to work late. The funeral ran til 130 and than we all had dinner til about 230. Had she gone to work she would hav only worked until 430. She was supposed to call her employer to let them know whether or not she would come to work late that day. She never called. The following day she was terminated and she admitted to her boss that she had a few glasses of wine at the dinner. Unemployment denied her case because her employer mentioned she was drunk and never called. Can she appeal? If yes do you think she will win?
 


commentator

Senior Member
She can appeal, the directions for filing an appeal would have come with the letter saying she was denied. She needs to keep making her weekly certifications for benefits for each week that passes.

That said, there will be a hearing, and her chances are not really that great. A lot will depend on whether there is a record of absences, whether she has ever had absenteeism issues, and how she can justify her discourtesy to her employer. She should have called as soon as the funeral was over, and informed them she was not coming in. (Before she drank anything!) While this rises to the level of discourtesy, since she broke her word that she would call them either way and let them know, the appeals referee will have to decide if it rises to the level of major or gross misconduct. It is going to be hard to justify her behavior even for this, it was a bad thing to do...but maybe not quite as bad as a complete no call no show for a day of work. After all, she did tell the boss she would be off and for what. Her mistake was to agree to call and let them know something, then not calling.

Excuse me, but why on earth was she so freaking stupid as to detail to her boss that the meal, which of course was optional for her to attend, lasted till 2:30 and that she had had some drinks, so she decided not to call. What, was she too drunk to use the phone? And he fired her, being angry with her. It's hard, though, for him to show progressive discipline or a pattern of lateness or failure to call based on this one incident.

But since she was not terminated for drinking, but terminated for her failure to report back to work after using personal leave, and her failure to notify her employer that she was not going to be able to come back to work, she should stay 'way away from bringing up the subject that she was too drunk to come back to work, or that was the reason she didn't come back to work.

I'm sure her letter of denial didn't say she wasdenied because her boss fired her for being drunk. It probably said something related to her failure to call in or report back to work as agreed upon after the funeral. If it did say she was fired for being drunk, she needs to point out tht she was not drunk or didn't have drinks anywhere around her worksite. She didn't report back to work, and didn't call in and tell them she wasn't coming in. She needs to stick to this, not bring up that she didn't call in because she was drinking. If the boss brings it up, she should point out that she did not report to work after drinking, she did not drink on the job. This was not the issue. It was rude, it was unreliable, but she wasn't fired for drinking, she was fired for not calling in and keeping her boss informed.
 
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judelucy

Junior Member
I was denied UNI for "quitting my job" even though I DIDN'T quit!

So, I'm pretty sure my situation is unique. I was recently traveling with some friends and took off a week and a half from work, which was approved by my management. In fact, I took time off once every few months to travel, which also was expressed with ample notice and approved every time by my management and they even said, "we want you to have a life outside of work." I'm only 23, and I work retail. I want to experience life as much as possible outside of work and I thought i was at the right place to do that. Anyway, When I was on my way home, I phoned my manager to notify her of my return, as well as arriving home early and that I was ready to resume work. I then was told I had to wait for her to return from a business trip for her to “talk to me.” Once I waited for her return, I was notified that I was no longer able to work for the company, because of me taking time off, even though it was approved beforehand. :(

Seems like the company changed their mind about me traveling somewhat often, and that's completely understandable, in a way, but in my opinion they could have at least warned me FIRST. Either way, I applied for unemployment and was DENIED! They apparently said i QUIT VOLUNTARILY! I did NOT quit whatsoever and now I just sent in my appeal. Is this right?! Can these people just lie to get out of giving me unemployment?

I really don't know what to do. My father is unemployed at the moment too and I used to help my parents out with my check. I don't think I'm in the wrong, but can someone help me out with some advice as to what to do or alternative actions to take?

Thanks,

Jude
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Suggestion #1, start your own thread instead of hijacking someone else's.

Suggestion #2, recognize that it is called "work" for a reason. Taking excessive time off is a justifiable reason to be termed no matter where you are. Evidently your employers found that the amount of time off you were taking no longer met their needs.

Suggestion #3, get it into your head NOW that you are never going to find an employer who will let you take time off to travel every few months. That's just not the way it works.

Suggestion #4, if you have anything IN WRITING approving the time off, get it out now. Otherwise, taking excessive time off CAN be considered a voluntary quit if the company chooses to consider it so.
 

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