Can I collect unemployment if I have been fired?

(New Jersey)

Hello,

I was recently fired for reasons somewhat unknown.

History: My boss and I had been having issues for over a year and a half. She had been harassing me, asking me very personal inappropriate questions, making demands on my appearance that were unreasonable and uncalled for. This woman would gossip about my other coworkers then threaten to fire me if i told anyone what she said. She would talk about my personal business in mixed company and make a show out of my appearance in front of my peers and clients. It was humiliating.
Finally I had the last of it. She was trying to go behind my back and talk to my clients about me just to undermine my tireless efforts. I wrote her an email saying how inappropriate her behaviour was and that I felt she should not contact my clients because it would not only damage my relationships, but it would also hinder the growth of said relationships.
She disagreed. I as much told her I was going to file a complaint against her.

She has had 3 HR complaints filed against her prior to this incident with no repercussions on her part.
She pitted all of her team against each other by telling lies and manipulation.
She has a tendency to harass and fire the women on the team. Out of 4 of us- there is now only 1. She has fired three of us in 6 months for no reason. 2 of us were top performers with no issues in the past.

I was going on vacation a day after the final incident happened. While I was away she filed a complaint against me for “expense report issues”.

I was completely within company policy. I even have an email from the expense department saying that anything under $25 was not required by the company.

They made a huge deal out of my parking expenses.
I am a Hospital Rep- so I drive from Hospital to hospital to see clients- in turn- I spend money on parking.
I keep a detailed log of where i spent the money and how much- then add it all up for the day and put it under “parking”.
I have been doing this for over 2 and a half years with no issue.

Now, all of a sudden I am called to speak to HR about it.

I brought my parking log and my evidence that I was doing exactly what the company said to do, and still they fired me.

A week prior to me being fired, I filed a complaint with HR against my boss.
Now I was the 4th person on he team of 5 to file a complaint against her.
HR never called me to investigate, never got the details of the harassment and discrimination, and never bothered to even call me to confirm they were investigating at all.

Go figure!

Now I have filed for unemployment.
I have all my emails from home office.
even the emails saying what a great job at work i was doing.
I have my log of parking expenses and the company handbook which says I was within limits of the policy-no breach in compliance.

What do I do?

Help me

Hi,

First thanks for the email, I always appreciate a kind word or two:)

So far it sounds good. Just a quick question though .. Do you have confirmation or the ability to prove you filed a complaint with HR prior to being discharged?

Chris

Comments for Can I collect unemployment if I have been fired?

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i was mean

by: mary

hey.. i just got fired from my job in food service after being there 2 yrs w NO raise…!

so i had bin askin my boss about getting a raise she said i have 2 do ur review(which was well over due). so 3 weeks had past and i was getting really mad because every time i would ask her she would say another day we will get to it…so after about the 4th time she told me this… on that day she had a meeting about how we all were doing…i asked her again about my review in front of the whole staff n she told me not right now..so i told her take this job and shove it n i walked out! and now they are saying “i got fired”…when i had WALKED out…so do i call unemployment and tell them the “REAL” truth as to what happened

Hi Mary,

You were mean? You should have seen the answer I had all written out before I thought better of it and wrote the following.

Why wouldn’t the unemployment department already know the truth?

You filed the claim .. and not all employers actually understand what a burden of proof is.

I would have told your employer .. Mary quit .. and not with good cause.

She might have acted inappropriately or insubordinate in the meeting .. but she did quit and not for something that is considered good cause.

Either way Mary .. quit or fired, I’d take bets on the outcome.

Care to guess what outcome I’d bet on?

Chris

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the investigator called

by: Anonymous

I have talked to the investigator.
I sent him about 30 pages of documentation on the matter I described above.
He said he would call me back only if my employer had a different story than I did.
I never received a call back on Friday.
Does this mean I am inthe clear for receiving my benefits?

Thank you:)

No, not yet. The adjudicator probably left a voice mail with a deadline for a call back.

Hang loose for a day or two:)

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thank you

by: Anonymous

I am still in contact with all of the other women involved in this manager’s discrimination and harassment.
We are seeking representation for the wrongs broght upon us by this monster of a boss and the terrible company that allowed it to go on.
As i said before, I was the 4th!! person to complain to HR about this boss with no repercussions to her.
I have the emails form compliance stating that I was within guidelines, and I kept a detailed log for my expenses for my own records that no one in the company required.
I also have emails to Corporate Compliance stating that I filed a complaint and received no action.

I am confused as how this even happened to me!

Do you know any good lawyers for this sort of case?

Thank you

Hi,

All the lawyers I know .. work for employers:)

That’s why I have a page with a good lawyer referral service.

Power in numbers. It can happen because we are all at will employees. But it does not necessarily follow that there will be no repercussions felt by the employer ..

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The points to focus on.

by: Chris – webmaster:)

When you have your interview, make it known you have documentation to show the reason you were fired … was not legitimate according to the employer’s rules and your records to prove it. Tell them you had filed a complaint just the week before regarding the harassment by your boss.

You want to make a connection between the two events to bring up the specter of retaliation.

We all know they can fire us for anything at anytime, but when they choose something that they can’t prove because we have documentation showing otherwise .. they are usually doomed.

This doesn’t mean they don’t get lucky at the initial level .. at least often enough for me to think this was a good idea for a website.

I honestly think you will be able to handle this on your own. I’m not sure what NJ’s procedures are at the initial level, but if necessary offer to fax the documentation.

Another thing .. are you still in contact with any of those others who were fired and victims of Cruella?

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thank you

by: Anonymous

Chris,

I do.
I have several back and forth emails confirmaing that I filed a complaint with no action.

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