by Shannon
(Humble, TX, USA)
I was fired from my job, actually through a text message and voice mail message, because my employer said I was “unreliable” and that I was absent from work too often. I filed for unemployment and my former employer appealed. They lost the appeal because the conclusion was that the incident I was fired for was not misconduct and I was not disqualified. Well, my former employer really, REALLY does not like me and has several times yelled and said mean things to me, so of course, she appealed again. I now have a phone hearing next week and I’m not quite sure what she thinks this is going to accomplish. She is now changing her reason for firing me and expanded it to “creating an unsafe work environment” and for “texting on my cell phone” as well as having her witnesses state that I had a “negative attitude.” My former employer says that she met with me and discussed the absences and told me that further absences would result in losing my job. But she never did anything like that. Once, she said “If you don’t want to work, go home!” but that is the only thing she ever said to me about it at all. I was never present for any of the discussions about my absences, nor did I see the “statements” that she supposedly wrote and kept in my file about how she talked to me on a certain day. I never saw the statements, talked to her about any of the statements, or signed any official warnings or documents stating that I understood that I was receiving a warning due to unexcused absences.
She is also stating that she put the “no cell phone” policy into effect for ALL employees and yet, there was one employee who would talk on her cell phone all day right in front of my former boss, but she never received a warning or a reprimand. That is not even-handedness. She should make sure that if a policy is for all employees, all employees should adhere to them, and not make exceptions for “favored” employees. This employee was also late almost every day and yet, did not receive the same punishment as me. Not even a warning in her file actually. So she does the basic same things that my former employer is stating I did, but she was allowed to remain employed there without a single reprimand or discussion.
I was also put into an unsafe work environment where I had uncapped, used syringe needles thrown very close to hitting me. Many occasions, actually. This was a veterinary clinic, and one of the doctors had an explosive temper and would frequently have “temper tantrums” where he would throw uncapped needles around the room, dangerously close to employees, and kick the equipment. Sometimes, he would even hit a dog. That didn’t feel like a very safe environment for me, so I don’t understand why she is stating that I created an unsafe work environment by texting on my cell phone during “down time” if her other employees are throwing dangerous objects, kicking equipment about the room and also talking and texting on their cell phones. Other employees complained about the other doctor throwing things, but she did nothing about their complaints.
And last, my former boss is actually a veterinarian and is not legally able to prescribe medication to human beings, but I actually witnessed this happening. An employee was filling a very large prescription for pain medication so I asked her which animal it was for. She said “It’s actually for my husband. He has really bad back problems and Dr. Scott lets me fill a prescription for pain medication.” So that was definitely illegal and she can actually lose her license for that, if there were any proof. I’m sure that just my statement that I witnessed this happening would not be enough.
So that’s more or less my story. I don’t understand how she is going to contradict what the Unemployment Office has already determined. If they said that my last incident wasn’t misconduct and didn’t disqualify me, how would the story be any different on the phone. Do you think I can win?
Hi Shannon,
I don’t know because I still don’t know what the “final incident” was.