proving lies at uc hearing

[tlynn01]

proving lies

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

I am writing to see if anyone knows what to do if I can prove with documents that at the hearing my supervisor lied after being sworn in. Now I see what lies were told. What can I do from here? Thank you.

 

[commentator]

You had your hearing and they told lies about your termination, correct? But then you are saying that the lies were told by your supervisor at work to your higher management and that is the reason they terminated you. So you're saying that the reasons for your firing given by the company at the hearing were lies? I don't understand who you are saying was lying, the person who represented the company at the hearing or the supervisor who told higher management you needed to be fired? If they fired you based on information they believed to be true, they weren't lying when they told the hearing officer why you were fired. But I guess my question is, how could they have given you appropriate warnings, write ups, and opportunities to improve your behavior without your knowing about them?

How much proof did they have of these lies? Are they presenting false documents? Was your counter story believable? Do you have any concrete proof that what they said was lies? You say you have documentation but did you tell the hearing officer you had this documentation at the time of the hearing after you heard what they were saying?

You were the one who was trying to send certified letters to the employer to ask the reason for your termination. I still maintain that they have to have at least some sort of semi-believable reason before they could win a hearingsmething you couldn't be totally oblivious to. You immediately request an appeal by the next level, which will be a "board of review" of some type,if you receive notice that your claim has now been denied.

There will be no further hearings. But you will submit your statement that you disagree with the decision because...and you will submit these documents that you have that you say can prove their reason for terminating you was based on lies. The whole case, the hearing and the decision will be reviewed. You may get the decision to go in your favor on this review. If so, you will be approved, and back paid for the weeks you have filed for. You will begin drawing benefits.

If not, you have no further recourse. You could take the issue to the next level, which is civil court to try to get your unemployment approved, but this is VERY rarely worth it for no more than unemployment insurance pays.

You cannot sue the company or its representative for not telling what you believe to be the truth in an unemployment hearing. The hearing decision is done with the assumption that either or both parties may be lying. The decision is made on the criteria of "most believable" based on what evidence is available.

 

[jsmith416]

Do you have any concrete proof that what they said was lies?

There can't always be proof that something didn't happen. If his supervisor for example told upper management that he showed up to work drunk on a given day, how would you absolutely prove that you didn't?

There will be no further hearings.

If he is where I think he is in the process he still get's another hearing.

In PA you get an initial decision, then you can appeal that to an examiner, then you can appeal that to the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, then from there onto the courts. I believe he has only lost the review before the examiner so he can still appeal to the UCBR.

edit: The OP should also bring up the fact that (at least as I am reading it) the people representing the company have no first hand knowledge of the alleged reason for the termination. They are just repeating what they were told by somebody else. If the company really wanted to make a strong case they will call as a witness somebody who actually witnessed the supposed misconduct.

 

[tlynn01]

I don't want this to be a long story but to give some details to clear up the confusion....
My immediate supervisor is the manager. He reported situations to upper management (at another location) which resulted in my termination. I never had any warnings, written or oral, about any of this , and the policy they say was broken, is a policy was unknown. It was never taught other employees would attest to this also. However , at the hearing the company had a lawyer, and my supervisor was there to answer his questions. When he told the referee why I was fired (which I did not initially know before hearing), my supervisor gave false testimony to the referee, therefore my termination was based on lies. Would I have legal recourse ? Thank you.

 

[commentator]

Based on what you are saying here, and what I am sure you told the hearing officer, you had no warnings, you had no write ups and you did not violate a company policy that was well known as instant grounds for termination. You did make this clear to them, didn't you? Though you did not have proof of this, it is sounding as if you may have been the more believable party in this hearing. You may have the decision go in your favor.

The employer did not have any documentation that showed you had been written up, warned, etc, did he? So it was just what he was saying, right? They did not have proof? How could they have, if it didn't happen? You did clearly state that it didn't happen, under oath, didn't you? So your word may be more believable than theirs.

So wait and see. Keep certifying for the weeks that pass. If it goes in your favor, that's all that needs to happen. They would have to appeal to the board of review, and they would have to submit their arguments and evidence which they apparently don't have. The board would have to determine that the law had not been followed in the prior hearing.

Even if you lose, you still cannot do anything to your employer. An employer can fire you for any reason known to man, because he felt like it if he wants to. It doesn't matter if he fired you based on lies. You cannot sue him civilly for this, as he has violated no law by terminating you and trying to keep you from drawing unemployment. You do not have a case against him for "lying in the unemployment hearing." You do not have a case against him for firing you unless it were an EEOC case, where you had been terminated because of your race, religion, national origin...any of those protected class issues. And this has not happened and would be tough to prove if it had, because they have gone with another reason, though it may have been a wrong reason.

 

[tlynn01]

[It's discouraging that this "at will" law is in effect, I don't know when that ever happened. Sounds like it protects the employers out there and leaves them open to defame and ruin the livelihood of any employee, for any reason they dream up; or no reason at all. seems the employees have no rights what-so-ever. If I did that out in the community, and lied against another person and caused them monetary loss, I'd be getting sued in court so can they do that with no consequence.]
I appreciate your advice and thoughts, so I now know that should I get denied, I could try to appeal and submit my documentation to show the false testimony that was given and hopefully it would help.
Thank you again.

(edit: to correct spelling: advice)

 

[Zigner]

[It's discouraging that this "at will" law is in effect, I don't know when or how that law ever happened.

You ARE joking, right?

I mean, it's not like 49 of 50 states (and even the fiftieth, in most instances) don't have this law.

 

[pattytx]

OP, you do know that under "at will employment" YOU can quit at any time for ANY reason, right?

 

[cbg]

As little as ten years or less ago, when the job market was different, the at-will doctrine favored the employee, not the employer. The pendulum swings, and will swing again.