How can I prove good cause in an unemployment appeal,if I have no witnesses because the other employees are all family members?
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How can I prove good cause in an unemployment appeal,if I have no witnesses because the other employees are all family members?
I quit my job because of an abusive work environment. It was a small company with 4 other employees all of which were related to each other. Two of them were the owners, husband and wife. I was always subjected to yelling, screaming and foul language. Now I have an appeal to try and get unemployment. The employer is not attending and is having their payroll company attend which is outside of the employers office. The company says they had problems giving me instructions. The company has no employee handbook and no documentation of me ever being written up. How can I fight this?
Asked on July 26, 2011 Arizona
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Unfortunately, you probably can't fight this.
First and foremost, even if the work environment is "abusive," if you quit, that's still voluntary resignation or quitting, and doing so prevents you from getting unemployment. Employers have no obligation to be fair, respectful, reasonable, non-abusive, etc.--they can make the workplace as awful as they feel like. If you leave owing to it, that's still leaving voluntarily--you were not fired, laid off, or terminated.
Secoond, as you note, it seems like there is no evidence or documentation which you could draw on to dispute their version of events, even if there were any grounds to dispute their version of events.
So, unfortunately, you may have made the best move for your life, your health, your happiness, etc., but that does not necessarily entitle you to unemployment insurance.
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