by Lauren Todd
(Oak Harbor, WA Island county)
O.K. I was fired from a home care agency, then I filed for unemployment and was denied. I just faxed the letter of appeal to the telecenter. I sent it within the 30 days timeframe. It simply said, “I disagree with final decision and would like a hearing.” I am trying to determine if I should go through with this.
Here are the facts:
1. I was fired for falsifying time records.
My last day at work at my client’s house I left to pick up my daughter at the bus and did not clock in or out during that time. I was gone about one hour.
I told my client: “You do not need to let Visiting Nurse,(my employer)know about this.”
It was a stupid thing to do, I know.
I was so fed up with Visiting Nurse. They called me in to work on Saturday. I told them a week before that I need Saturdays off, which they put down in writing as they do all employees and they called anyway.
During my employment with them I was sexually harassed by different male clients. I told them and they did nothing Am I allowed to swear here? The same client that sexually harassed me was cheating the welfare system with their full knowledge. I told them and they said they would do nothing about it. So, they are cheating the system to keep the client. So, the sad thing is I did falsify records, it’s true, I was just so fed up with them, I had had it. So, should I appeal?
or would I be wasting my precious energy and time?
Hi Lauren,
You’ll rarely catch me telling anyone and appeal is a waste of time .. simply because I’ve seen totally undeserving people get unemployment benefits. In addition to this .. the format I use here on this website is really not optimal for pulling out the real details .. that’s best done through a “conversation”. I also am at a disadvantage because not everyone presents their information in a straight forward fashion .. as you have done. Instead I often suspect they are only telling me what they think would convince me they are in the right. When they do this the only one they are doing a disservice to is their self.
But I’m certainly willing to give my first impression and raise issues about information for which I get a feeling .. is missing.
Okay, onto you. I have grave doubts that you will prevail. What you did is misconduct. But I also see an irony here.
Everything you mentioned about the employer .. such as their unwillingness to address sexual harassment from a client who is “working the system” with their knowledge. This all would have been a okay argument to quit with good cause .. provided you could back it all up.
The appeal hearing will focus on the “final incident though .. and Lauren that was entirely your doing and like you said, it was a stupid thing to do.