Okay, keep filing for your weekly or bi-weekly certifications while waiting for your appeals hearing. You have filed an appeal, right? If not, do so at once. All you will do is send it back saying, "I wish to appeal this decision. I request an in-person hearing." You do not have to respond in any other way, explain why you feel this is unjust, anything else except get the info back to the agency within the time limit that you do request an appeal.
Now, when the hearing comes around, you will be the person presenting first. You are the one appealing the decision. First of all, lose all the superfluous information about what a trash-head your former employer is, how he did this to this person, that to the IRS, this to his family pet. Just the facts, ma'am.
They truly do not care about his character or how the job was going for you otherwise, just whether unemployment law is followed. Unemployment law says the employer must have a good job related reason to terminate you. No call in no show up is almost always considered misconduct, even if you did it just once. What you will be attempting to show is that you were following the same "tell someone you're going to be off" procedure you always have done since you began work, and you did not know that doing this might cause your job to end. You will state that you have never been told or warned about not talking to the boss directly about absences, and that to your knowledge, there was no cut and dried absence request policy.
Your boss and/or his attorney or his company representative will be given the opportunity to be present, though there will be a hearing even if the other party doesn't show up. You still present your facts the same way.
Begin with how long you have worked for the employer, and what you were told about absences when you began working there. If you were told nothing, given no company handbook, be sure and state that. If you were told there was a handbook, here it is, read it, sign it, then don't mention it, but it doesn't sound like you were actually ever told of a policy.
Then go into the first time you were absent, how you told the other person you were going to be absent, you gave her the keys, and you then were out for the day, or you called her that morning, however you usually arranged your absences. Clearly point out that you had done this particular thing with the other employee, without having any contact with the boss before and that you were not reprimanded, not told to call him in the future, not given any indiciation that you were not doing the right thing. if you have never been warned or written up for excessive absences, and had no idea whether your absences were considered excessive, throw that in. Particularly if you have only been absent very few times during your tenure there.
Go to this most recent incident, and point out that you covered your absence the same way you have done so in the past. Show where you received the text message on your telephone record if you have one, which shows that the other person in the office called you and said you did not need to come in the next day. Then there will be the record showing that your boss said for you to come in and pick up your check.
I have a question. When you received the message that you were not to come in the following day, weren't you a little bit suspicious that there was something up? Would you have been able to be there that day? Was it your boss' usual practice to call either of you and tell either of you not to come in some days? Was it usualy for him to pass along work related information to one worker through the other? In other words, did you know your job was in jeopardy? When they emailed you the next day to "come in and pick up your check" were you on your way to work that day? Why did you not go in that third day?
What they're going to want to hear is "What steps did you take to try to keep from being terminated?"
If you reasonably thought maybe your boss was a bit angry with you because you took off the first day, did you on the second day make any effort to speak to him, instead of the other employee?
Frankly, it sounds to me like you sort of almost quit by not calling in to him, contacting him, or going back into the worksite without anyone's telling you to stay home but your co-worker. So be sure and stress you had always done absences this way, and your boss had never told you otherwise.
Then they will be given their opportunity to show why they fired you. Then both of you will be given the chance to ask each other questions. You may ask the employer if he did, in fact, tell the other employee to text you and tell you not to come back in. Had he, at this point made the decision to terminate you? If so, why did he not tell you this directly?
Then a decision will be reached. You have a fair, but not wonderful chance of getting this one overturned and being approved. But be sure, even if the employer does not show up, that you present your material, and emphasize that your actions were not misconduct, that you were using your usual means to notify the company you would be out the next day, and that you wouldn't have done it if you had had any idea your job was in jeopardy.
