employer accusing my mom (missed court) lost unemployment

[tenshi_R]

WA state

ill try to make it short
my mom's english is not very good so she asked me to help

her employer filed a lawsuit against her after she stopped working there because she got somewhat hurt that my mom filed for unemployment

my mom missed the court because she didnt understand what the papers were saying and thought they were for her unemployment training school that she signed up for
few days ago she got accepted to teh job training and same day got a letter saying that her benefits were cut off

now shes trying to figure out what to do
the accusations seem like just alot of stuff that was made up that neither harty have proof for
how should we go about it. at the moment she is looking for a free legal help but if she cant find one we would have to do it ourselves>
file an appeal and write her version of what happened for each paragraph that she was accused of?
should we (can we) ask the accuser to present the evidence that she has to support what she claims by filing a motion?

this was pretty much her best chance to actually get a decent job and she already started the classes now she has to deal with this instead of focusing on her classes and its putting more stress on her. and i cant really help her since i dont know the procedure for this either. (just the very basics)

 

[Just Blue]

WA state

ill try to make it short
my mom's english is not very good so she asked me to help

her employer filed a lawsuit against her after she stopped working there because she got somewhat hurt that my mom filed for unemployment

my mom missed the court because she didnt understand what the papers were saying and thought they were for her unemployment training school that she signed up for
few days ago she got accepted to teh job training and same day got a letter saying that her benefits were cut off

now shes trying to figure out what to do
the accusations seem like just alot of stuff that was made up that neither harty have proof for
how should we go about it. at the moment she is looking for a free legal help but if she cant find one we would have to do it ourselves>
file an appeal and write her version of what happened for each paragraph that she was accused of?
should we (can we) ask the accuser to present the evidence that she has to support what she claims by filing a motion?

this was pretty much her best chance to actually get a decent job and she already started the classes now she has to deal with this instead of focusing on her classes and its putting more stress on her. and i cant really help her since i dont know the procedure for this either. (just the very basics)

When did this happen?

 

[tenshi_R]

she was supposed to appear in court at the end of last month but missed it because she didnt understand what it was.

 

[xylene]

DEMAND an interpreter and translated copies of all documents!

 

[cbg]

What kind of lawsuit did the employer file? With who? Alleging what?

 

[Just Blue]

she was supposed to appear in court at the end of last month but missed it because she didnt understand what it was.

Why didn't he give it to you to read if she has issues reading/speaking English?

 

[commentator]

I am honestly suspecting that what happened was that your mother filed for unemployment and that all this "filed a lawsuit" is connected with the unemployment claim. I suspect that what you mean is that your mother's employer protested her being approved for benefits, and a hearing was to be held regarding this claim, which it seems your mother has missed. Now her unemployment is denied.

Is it possible that this is what happened? That your mother got approved for unemployment insurance to begin with, and then the employer filed an appeal? This would make more sense than a lawsuit of some kind. And "appear in court?" Really? I think maybe it was perhaps an unemployment hearing.

You can go to the free legal services of your area, they will usually work with people regarding unemployment claims. Most attorneys usually aren't too interested in taking on these unemployment cases because there is very little money to be made from them.

Hopefully, she does not need an attorney if this is all just related to unemployment insurance. The system is set up to make it possible for people to self represent. If there is the slightest hint that your mother needs a translator, she can request, or you can request on her behalf, and one can be provided for her and is supposed to be without any delay. It doesn't sound to me like you yourself are doing too well at figuring out what it means. Do seek the help of legal services, and ask them to act as her advocate with the department. I think they could really be of benefit to you in this situation.

If this is what I think it is, she definitely needs to collect every single piece of communication that she has pertaining to unemployment, and you and she, or legal services or someone needs to figure out what is going on, very promptly, before it is too late to do anything about it.

And particularly, if she has just got this letter telling her she has been denied unemployment what you need to do is FILE AN APPEAL OF THIS DECISION IMMEDIATELY. These appeals are time sensitive. You probably have about two weeks, fifteen days or some such time period, and if you do not get a timely appeal in, it is all over and there is NO chance she will be approved for unemployment. All it needs to say in this appeal is "I wish to appeal this decision" and you submit it to where the instructions on the paperwork tells you to submit it.

This appeal request is not the place where you need to make any rebuttals of arguments or statements made by the employer or go line by line and respond. You simply state that you wish to file the appeal. Then, depending on what stage of the appeals process your mother is actually in, she will have the opportunity later to construct her response to what is being said as to the reason her claim is denied, and why she thinks she should have been approved.

It'd be very helpful if you would post here for us to see the actual reason for denial on the form, so we could better see what is going on. Remove any identifying information, of course, we do not need names or any personal information, just what the agency has said is the reason why this claim was denied. Maybe we can be more helpful if we have a little more specific information. Exactly why did your mother leave the job? How long has it been since this happened? Why does the agency say the claim is denied?

 

[HighwayMan]

her employer filed a lawsuit against her after she stopped working there...

You make it sound like your mother left the job. Or was she fired? You're not being clear about what happened.

 

[cbg]

I tend to agree with commentator here.

 

[tenshi_R]

im very confused now.
she jsut got a letter saying"we approved your unemployment benefits as long as you are otherwise eligible for benefits
overpayment was not your fault and waived because expenses exceed your income and no assets or circumstances exist

i dont think she quit i belive it was more of a misunderstanding between her and employer where she wanted to take some days off because she didnt feel god and employer assumed that she just quit without saying it and got angry. and exchanged few nasty txts with my mom .
later found out that my mom got unemployment and she wrote alot of false statements which even i know are not true.
she does claim that she has it on security camera thats why i was asking can we request her to present whatever evidence she has to back up her claims or is it on my mom now to prove that those statements are false?

i cant really write too many details without giving away details that might make this recognisable by someone

 

[tenshi_R]

the agency is employment security department
program is unemployment insurance

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Any letter disqualifying her for unemployment should have been accompanied with instructions on how to appeal the decision. This is what she needs to do and do quickly there is a time limit.

 

[not2cleverRed]

im very confused now.
she jsut got a letter saying"we approved your unemployment benefits as long as you are otherwise eligible for benefits
overpayment was not your fault and waived because expenses exceed your income and no assets or circumstances exist

i dont think she quit i belive it was more of a misunderstanding between her and employer where she wanted to take some days off because she didnt feel god and employer assumed that she just quit without saying it and got angry. and exchanged few nasty txts with my mom .
later found out that my mom got unemployment and she wrote alot of false statements which even i know are not true.
she does claim that she has it on security camera thats why i was asking can we request her to present whatever evidence she has to back up her claims or is it on my mom now to prove that those statements are false?

i cant really write too many details without giving away details that might make this recognisable by someone

Who is "she" in "she wrote alot of false statements" and "she does claim that she has it on security camera"? Your mom or her former employer?

While I can understand that you do not wish to include identifying details, we do need the relevant ones, which are not identifying.
We do not care where your mom worked.
We do need to know how she came to be unemployed.
We do not need to know what your mom's job was, except to the extent that it explains the context of the alleged misconduct.
We do need to know the nature of the alleged misconduct.
We do not need names, except for government agencies.

 

[commentator]

And I am thinking that it may already be too late to do much here. From the sound of this, your mother missed the hearing in which the second decision denying benefits (after she had been receiving them for a few weeks) The letter she has now received sounds like a "non-fraud" overpayment letter. In other words, it is saying she doesn't get any more unemployment, but she doesn't have to pay back what she has already received.

If the appeal time frame has passed, it doesn't make a bit of difference whether what "she" said about your mother's quitting/not quitting, being off work, not understanding each other or whether your mother was fired or not. In fact, from the little bits and pieces we are getting here, it sounds a lot like they determined that your mother quit the job.

If the time to appeal that decision has already passed, it doesn't matter whether it was true or not. The agency found what was said in that hearing your mother missed more believable than whatever your mother told them. They made a decision. And if you disagree with that decision, she, you or somebody must get in an appeal within the appropriate time or there is no further appeal.

But unless you can give us more information about exactly where she is in the process, there's no chance we can help. In my opinion from right here, it doesn't sound like she's going to have much of a chance, because it does sound like she quit the job, and that's disqualifying in almost all cases.