by DD
(Los Angeles, CA)
During my interview with my former employer it was agreed upon that if I accepted employment I would be allowed to attend castings during the work week.
My former employer did not offer full-time employment, sick pay, vacation pay, or health benefits. Due to the center offering only 24 hours per week of employment, my employers agreed that seeking self-employed work during the week was acceptable. For close to two years this agreement was honored by my employers.
During the length of my employment I received only praise and encouragement to attend castings, and was blindsided when I was terminated after nearly two years for doing what I was permitted and encouraged to do.
My former employer informed the California EDD that I voluntarily quit and that I was self-employed during the work week, but they gave me a termination letter! (I would have continued working if the didn’t) In the letter it clearly states: “we have no choice but to terminate your employment here”. I’m confused how that is the same thing as voluntarily quitting. I wasn’t given any written warning prior to my termination, nor did I turn in a resignation letter. We had a meeting one Wednesday afternoon and I was told that my replacement was coming in the next morning and they asked me if I could train her.
I also have timesheets documenting (yes I kept them all) over a two year period showing that they let me attend castings during the work week, as long as I signed in an out, and they didn’t pay me while I was gone.
In addition to the timesheets I have emails that one of my co-workers bcc’d me on with dialogue between my bosses and my co-worker saying things like, “Let’s ask her to take a paycut, because we can’t afford her” and they even asked me to lower my hours to 20 hours a week, because they needed to make cutbacks. The option to take a paycut was never presented to me, and the option to cut to 20 hours a week I refused since I was barely scrapping by on what they paid me for 24 hours.
Please help! I am nervous and desperate for any advice you have to offer.
Hi DD
Here’s the thing .. or the problem for me .. if you will.
Your title says you have appealed to the board .. To me, that means you’ve already had your first hearing.
And now you that you are appealing to the board .. the relevant information is no longer what documents or testimony you might have provided .. or what you pulled from the employer on cross examination about “the conditions of hire” ..
But what the first level hearing decision says .. and what actually went on during the hearing .. which is THE RECORD being created for the rest of the appeal process.
Any board level appeal which disagrees with the first level ALJ’s findings of facts or reasoning while applying the laws .. and the standing unemployment precedents must be made clear in a written “legal brief” which, almost always can be submitted after you send off the appeal letter. But you’ll have to check the code .. or contact the board of appeal to be certain how California does it.
Yet another basis of appeal would be that the ALJ broke with the “rules of procedure” for administrative law hearings.
A break with rules of procedures .. let’s say an “overruled objection or a sustained objection on the grounds of relevancy might be grounds for another lower level hearing if the information really was relevant.
The argument in the brief might be as pointed as showing an error in the ALJ’s reasoning. For example he/she might have given more weight to “hearsay” testimony .. than direct testimony to reach the conclusion of the decision.
Now, here’s another thing .. I’m not a lawyer .. I’m not even a paralegal .. I do not write board appeals .. but if I were doing this for myself, the first thing I would want to do is send off the appeal and second .. I would be getting my hot little hands on the recorded transcript of the proceeding .. or THE RECORD of the first hearing.
What I’d would be looking for is the error that allowed the decision to say you quit .. when in fact, the employer hired you with a specific agreement or conditions 2 years ago that allowed you to do .. what you did and that out of the blue .. they upped and changed the conditions .. without telling you.
Or if you couldn’t prove the agreement at time of hire that you did prove through testimony and documentation, consistent behavior on the part of the employer to condone this continuing relationship.
And here’s the third thing .. if you’ve only been denied with the initial determination .. and I’ve been working backwards and on assumptions to boot .. you might now know what to look for in the benefit determination guide.
Tips? .. Try the California unemployment insurance appeal board .. I’m sure the video on the front page will put you at ease .. but I prefer the precedents they link to on the left.
I’m sure they really want you to understand how to write a valid worthwhile board appeal .. so they can pay benefits to you.
Comments for I filed an appeal with the California Unemployment Appeal Board, can give me any tips if my appeal is valid?
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