Unlawful termination question

[Kman73]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA
I was terminated last year(2009) for violation of a company policy back in 2003. It came out during my unemployment hearing that I had not infact signed the policy acknowledgement form until mid 2008 and it was deemed an unlawful termination for and for off duty actions. Now that I am finaly getting interviews I realize how this will affect my job hunting, I had no marks in my file and was an exemplary employee. What if any recourse might I be entitled to? Perhaps having the records show a false termination or something like it? Thanks for any advice given..

 

[mlane58]

Nothing you posted suggests that there was a wrongful termination. There isn't a state unemployment division that can make that determination. They can only determine whether you qualify for benefits or not. You don't have any recourse against the employer.

 

[pattytx]

And there is no law requiring that the ex-employer change or delete any of their records. Who knows, they might not be saying anything regarding this situation.

 

[swalsh411]

"false termination"? Now that's a new one.

OP did you save copies of your performance reviews? I was fired from a job once unfairly and was forthright about it in interviews but had several excellent reviews to counter. YMMV though.

 

[cbg]

The UI commission does NOT deem terminations "unlawful". You are sadly mistaken if that is what you think they said. It is not the jurisdiction of the UI commission to determine the legality of the termination. They determine ONLY if the termination was for a reason that qualifies you, or disqualifies you, for unemployment benefits. Receiving benefits does NOT make the termination "unlawful". The vast majority of people collecting unemployment were legally terminated.

You are not entitled to any legal recourse. Firing you for violating a policy was legal, regardless of whether you had signed the acknowledgement or not. (Failure to sign the acknowlegement does NOT in any way, shape or form exempt you from having to follow the policy.) Just because the UI commission decided to award you benefits doesn't mean the employer did anything illegal. It also doesn't mean that prospective employers cannot take into consideration what history you had with past employers.

 

[Kman73]

Thank you for all of your responses. I have indeed kept all of my evaluations and all of them are quite excellent and before my termination I had never had a bad mark. I am not sure how to approach the firing topic during an interview...Any suggestions? Thanks Again

 

[cbg]

Without knowing what policy you violated (and I'm not asking you to tell us unless you feel comfortable doing so) it's hard to get too specific. The best suggestion I can offer is to tell the truth, taking responsibility for your actions, acknowledging what you did, explaining how you have learned from it and (and this is the most important part) do not attempt to deflect ANY of the blame onto your employer. That is a real turn-off to interviewers. Taking responsibility yourself impresses them; blaming others does not. If there were extenuating circumstances, by all means explain them, but make it clear that you are not holding anyone responsible except yourself.

A good employer will be impressed by your honesty and your willingness to accept responsibilty. If there is one that isn't, well, you probably didn't want to work for him anyway.