I quit!!

[commentator]

You've filed the appeal, hopefully you didn't send in your whole case to the appeals tribunal. All you needed to say was "I wish to appeal this decision."

Very important. Keep certifying.

The inperson hearing is important because all they have to do is sit on the phone and lie. Do you really want to make that this convenient for them? Probably te hearing will be in the closest office. Anyhow keep certifying, we'll deal with it more later when you've got a scheduled hearing.

 

[commentator]

In addition. This hearing will be an excellent opportunity for you to practice presenting yourself before a judge/jury stress situation. This will help you figure out if an EEOC hearing is worth it. It will be an excellent opportunity to get your materials and proofs set up in a logical and well organized manner.

It is usual that if the employer loses and asks for a hearing, they will always request a telephone hearing, so they will not have to use their time and resources to get to a hearing site. While you are not working, do not need to avoid missing work or anything, have time to get to an in person hearing. It is a slight advantage to you. There is also a slight chance they will not show up, which would help your case somewhat, though it does not provide a slam dunk win.

Carefully read the decision letter denying your benefits. Carefully determine how you can tell your whole story, hitting the very most pertinent facts of your harrassment, leading up to your decision to quit the job. Very carefully review the dialogue at the time you reported the problems, and the dialogue that was held between you and the employer at the time your employment terminated.

Be sure you emphasize everything you did to attempt to keep the job, work out the problems, how you tried for a period of time to make sure they did not intend to correct any problems, that they were really retaliating against you.

Do not bring in side issues. Stay on target, keep to the brief, relevant facts. Above all, do not hit the hearing officer with a huge pile of "proofs" without a prepared case presented in voice by you. You can't just 'write a letter' or turn in a big pile of documentation. You must convince the appeals referee that your argument is most believable and compelling. You must be professional, well organized, and presentable. During a sexual harrassment issue case, it's a good idea to wear tailored, professional looking clothing and moderate make up. Impressions do count.

You must also be willing to listen to the employer tell whatever lies they have told, demean you or question your character without dramatic reaction. Since you know pretty much what they will say, based on what they said in the initial decision, you will have documentation to prove that what they are going to say is not going to be truthful. (You will be speaking first, since you are the appellant. )

 

[scorned]

Unfortunately, I did not know not to send them everything so I did bombard them with alot of info. Sorry, I didn't know, I thought the more info I gave, the easier the appeal would be. I got another letter yesterday from UI, mind you two seperate initial determinations, this one tells me I get the first 2 weeks of UI because I was discharged before completion of notice (and a 2 week UI check). Of course the other was the denial. If I ask for a hearing in person, you do think they will come to the nearest office? Can I bring witnesss (character and attest to working environment)? Also, been having trouble getting in touch with EEOC again, do I need to tell the investigator all about the UI? Last time I spoke with her, I had only filed and hadn't heard anything so I forgot. Oh, and can I get some pointers on keeping it brief? I wrote a 3 page letter to appeal, there is just way too much to tell and really it was all relevant to the specifics of discrimination and retaliation. They are going to be pissed over all that aren't they?

 

[commentator]

Okay, the downside of the whole sending them too much stuff deal is that they will enter all that into evidence,and may say that you have already presented your evidence, not give you an opportunity to present it adequately. So when you get into the hearing, you will need to have a copy of what you presented to them, but ask if you can "present" instead of just having it serve as your appeal. So then you will need to very succinctly, begin with what you feel begun your situation. In other words, start with the precipitating incident before you filed your grievance with EEOC. (Not in too much detail, just say something like, "The reason I was forced to quit my job goes back, I believe, to what happened in Jun, 2008. I was groped on the elevator by my supervisor, George Blah. I spoke with HR, and then I filed a grievance with EEOC concerning this incident.") Go through it quickly.

Then, how you were given a letter, and you and the EEOC representative worked with the company. How you understood that you were not to be subjected to retaliation for filing this complaint. How you had worked all these years without complaint about your performance, and how now you seemed to be having some incidents that were very retaliatory. (Evidence of these would be helpful.)You did not receive a bonus which everyone had been granted. How you tried to work out this situation with your company before you decided to resign. (Evidence of this would be helpful.)How you gave them every possible opportunity to resolve the situation. How finally, you gave your notice that you were quitting to your supervisor.

Hopefully, they will let you give a verbal presentation of this type, instead of just putting the junk you sent them on record.

I have no idea whatsoever about whether you should tell EEOC about the unemployment hearing. They will have NO connection with the unemployment appeal, and will have no idea whether you are approved or not. You are, of course, going to tell the appeals referee about the EEOC case. I assume that a great deal of the material you sent in was the stuff from EEOC.

There is no way you can present your case in a letter. Therefore, you should ask to "go through" the letter if they want to use it in the hearing. All the parties will be sworn in, and you will present your case, and then the employer will be able to present his case. The referee will ask questions concerning the situation if they do not get what they need from either of you.

I do not think you need to bring in a witness in particularly a character witness. This would not help your case at all. The person who was standing there and actually heard what the supervisor said to you and what you said to them when you told them you were going to quit might be an okay witness, but otherwise, they may have very little to contribute.

Keep filing for weeks of unemployment, even though you will not get any more weeks paid unless you win the appeal.

They usually do appeals in some office close by. I do not think KY requires you to report to the offices at the capitol. I'd say the closest large Career Center office is where they'd come to. They'll let you know soon.