wrongful termination and unemployment

[ticee]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? ohio
I worked at an office for 5 yrs where I was harrassed everyday (non-sexual) by the supervisor/boss. I was severely depressed. I finally had a meeting with him and told him how he was treating me: sarcasm, derogatory remarks about womens' hot flashes, demeaning and sarcastic remarks in front of clients and coworkers to the point where everyone asked me how I could stand it. He even looked at me once and said "what a joke". When I told him all this he said he wasn't aware of it and 2 days later I was transferred to an office across town. Although the drive was 3x as long I was happy and less stressed. 2 months ago my boss told me I would be working back at the north office with that same supervisor and I said I couldn't. I told him I would do anything else but I just couldn't go back there. He fired me. I feel I was wrongfully terminated but I was also denied benefits from unemployment. I appealed their decision and I was sent a letter stating there will be a hearing. Do I have any chance of winning? I have not asked witnesses to come forward. Please help!What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[cbg]

A wrongful termination means that there is a specific law which prohibits the employer from firing you for the reason he did. What law do you believe was violated?

That's a serious question, not a rhetorical one and not a rebuttal to your position. It's a stepping stone to an answer.

 

[ticee]

unemployment

I am asking if I have a valid reason for not accepting the assignment to the other office with regards to unemployment compensation? The ruling will depend on that.

 

[cbg]

So you are not asking if you were wrongfully terminated; you are only asking whether you can collect UI if you refuse the reassignment?

 

[commentator]

Okay, you were denied benefits. You have a hearing coming up. Be sure you have continued to certify for weekly benefits, because if you win the hearing, you will be back paid only for weeks you have certified for. if you had stopped, call immediately and re-open your claim,begin doing the weekly certifications. When the hearing comes, either by telephone or in person, you will be the first presenter, since you were denied and you are appealing the denial of benefits.

In order to get around the fact that you refused a work assignment, and were terminated for this reason, you are going to take the tack that under the circumstances, this was not a reasonable work assignment. In order to do so, you are going to have to begin with the fact that you worked for five years for the supervisor they were asking you to go back to work for. You can point out that you had many problems with this person, that you were harrassed verbally and that he made inappropriate sex related comments, and treated you very badly. That in an EFFORT TO RESOLVE THIS PROBLEM BEFORE QUITTING YOUR JOB (this important, be sure to work this phrase into the statement somewhere) you talked with him about what you felt was his inappropriate behavior and the way he was treating you. That you were about to be considering an EEOC grievance if there was no relief.

The company responded by transferring you to another office, where you have worked for x number of months with no problems of any kind. You need to stress that you have had no prior problems with behavior of any kind, that you have always had good performance reviews and that you had no indication there was any problem with your job performance, you have always done the job to the best of your ability, and never been insubordinate to a supervisor or refused a work assignment before in the x number of years you have worked for the company.

Then when you were told by your supervisor that you were going to be transferred back to the old office, to be working for this same supervisor you had such problems with before, you told him that you had had these problems and that you would do anything else, accept any other assignments, in other words, make any other accomodations in order to keep your job except to go back into the situation where you were being verbally and sexually harrassed. (Remarks about your monthly cycle, hormones, and such, these are sexual harrassment, in my opinion)

He told you there was no choice, and then, and this is the good part, HE FIRED YOU. You did not say "I will quit my job!", or "I do quit my job!", you offered to do anything else you could to keep your job, and you were told this was it, if you did not go back to the other office to work for _____, you would be terminated.

When an employer terminates you he must prove that he has a good valid job related misconduct reason to terminate you. Your refusal to accept a transfer back to this negative situation that you have already managed to negotiate, deal with and get corrected is not misconduct. It does not rise to the level of insubordination. This gives you a fairly decent chance of winning your appeal, if you present it right.

Good luck in the hearing. Remember to be professional, to be polite, and to present your case very logically. Do not over emphasize the horrible way this original lawyer was behaving. Just stress that you took the necessary action at the immediate level before you went higher in the company.

 

[cbg]

Just to be sure we are all on the same page, (I know Commentator knows this) receiving unemployment benefits does NOT mean that your termination was wrongful (illlegal). The majority of people collecting unemployment were legally terminated.

If you want to pursue the question of a wrongful term (it is not clear if you do or not) please answer my question above.

 

[ticee]

unemployment

I appreciate, Commentator, all the helpful information. CBG, I am sorry I didn't make myself clear. Take wrongful term off the table.

I am not familiar with EEOC and don't understand what it means. Again, I am so grateful for the support and the information. I do have another question. Would there be any benefit to going to the actual hearing as opposed to over the phone? Thanks in advance to any additional info.

 

[commentator]

Cbg's so right, I'm ALL about unemployment. To the point of being one track sometimes. I try to stay within my area of expertise. EEOC is Equal Employment Opportunity...Commission? This is definitely more cbg's area than mine. If you are being discriminated against on the job on the basis of your being a member of a protected class..in other words if they are discriminating against you or treating you badly because of your race, sex, religion, national origin, like I said, those basic things...well each state has an EEOC office which makes a decision whether there is enough evidence of wrongdoing to sue...as I said, this is not exactly my area. But if your former boss, the one you left, was making nasty comments about you because you are female, he was treading over into that area it sounds to me like. And there might very well have been some definite grounds to file a complaint.

Which you did not have to do, and it is probably too late to do that at this time, as there is a statute of limitations on how long after the incidents you can file the complaint (again, not my area)but it wouldn't hurt for unemployment purposes if you mention that his harrassment was so severe and of such a nature that you did believe you could have filed a complaint with EEOC. At least you believe it now, don't you?

As for in person or by telephone, for goodness sake, do "in person" if there is the slightest opportunity to do so. For one thing, it is always better to be there and present your case in person. For another, since you are not working anyhow, it should not take up too much of your time. The employer, however, would much prefer to do a hearing on the phone and say whatever they want in the presence of everyone, including your old boss if he wants to listen, and not have to leave the comfort and convenience of their office. Why let them? Sometimes when it is an in person hearing the employer does not show up, and though you still have to present your case, it can only help your side.

Check carefully the material you have been sent about your appeals hearing. You have filed it timely, haven't you? In most states, the person doing the appealing, which is you, has to request either telephone or in person, not just casually make a decision whether to drive down for the hearing or call it in. They're not going to have one person on the phone and the other down at the office, you know? It's either going to be in person for both parties, or by speaker phone for both parties. And this should be very clearly stated on the notice you have received telling you when the hearing is. If it isn't, call the appeals tribunal number on your material.

 

[ticee]

unemployment

I'm in Ohio and the information I received was just telling me they will send me a hearing date in the mail and I have to let them know if I want it in person. If not I do nothing. I did request my file and after the hearing I can request that as well. So I will let them know I want it in person. Also I have been filing weekly claims over the phone. All I really want is compensation for my job loss, nothing more. Thank you so much.