What to tell the judge at my unemployment appeal hearing?
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What to tell the judge at my unemployment appeal hearing?
I quit my job after bring threatened a termination. I was giving the option to resign or take the termination, so I resigned to protect my job history. I also had wanted to leave for personal reasons, job duties change and hours cut. Also, the boss didn’t seem to like me, and would never discuss scheduling with me. I also was in belief that I would have a job the next week, but that fell through. I applied for UI and was approved. Now my employer is trying to appeal. What kind of case can I present?
Asked on June 23, 2011 under Employment Labor Law, Arizona
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Unfortunately, you don't have a good case to present, based upon what you write.
To begin with, resigning to avoid being fired still counts as resigning--that is, it still counts as having left employment voluntarily. Leaving voluntarily disqualifies one from receiving unemployment insurance. In a situation like that which you describe, from a UI point of view, you are expected to "call the bluff" and make them fire you, if you want to get UI. Wanting to protect your employment history may make sense, but it is still a voluntary choice, and so voluntarily leaving the job.
Also, employers may change your duties, cut your hours, etc., and the fact they do so does not justify quiting, UNLESS the cut in hours was so drastic that you were effectively fired (i.e. not really working anymore); in that case, you may be able to argue constructive termination, but only in that case.
The boss not liking you is irrelevant--there's no right to be liked by our bosses--and believing you had another job lined up is also irrelevant.
In short, from what you write, even if all your reasons were good reasons for you personally, this seems to still amount, legally, to a voluntary resignation.
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