by Junior
(Orlando Florida)
Well this past Wesnesday Sep 16 2009 I was working the graveyard shift well I work for a Hotel and I just do cleaning and attending the customers.Well on that day I usually dont do nothing right away because usually is really slow and people are awake and dirty the floors so i start always 4:30am to 6:00am so that my boss can see everything clean he is picky but in that night I stood in the pool area and front entrance with the lady in front desk that I was working that night well 5:00am I checked for pizza flyers in the vacant rooms usually I check the floors around this time and I went to the 5th floor and with my master keys I checked 504 and I saw a plasma tv is missing so I thought that Enginneering department was fixing the wall then I checked 505 and the door was open I look the Tv was missing to so I got scared so i didnt check the eal itrooms.Then I tell the lady in front desk about it and she said that dont worry dont check the rooms just in case something happen so I finish my shift and around 1pm my coworker called me saying that the boss called her and said that 4 plasma tv’s were missing I got mad because he accussing me so I called him and told him that what happen that the lady in front desk called me saying that 4 plasma tv’s were missing so my boss told me that I had 30 minutes to bring his tv’s back with a bad tone so I told him that I got nothin to do with it and my boss is calling the police so I told him go ahead I didn’t steal and that I got my hands clean.So he said that not to show up to work until investigation is done.So that day I was thinking about the lady and I remembered that she called me at 11pm that she was running late because of her van was messed up so she was suppose to call work not my cell phone and that night she said that she was going to the restroom and took a luggage cart which was weird then at 2 am while I was eating in the front lobby i smoke a cigarrette in the front door I saw her boyfriend going fast from behind the hotel in her van with a friend and she told me that her bf his car is messed up I called the boss on friday and let him know just to clear my name he said that thanks a lot but then he said nothin just not to show up to work and that look for a job and he wont give me bad reference Now what Can I do I want unemployment am a student and I need money for gas and I pay my student loan from my own pocket? Iam innocent and my boss said that a detective is gonna talk to me .How can I apply for unemployment my boss didnt told me am fired or suspended or nothin just not to show up ?
Hi Junior,
It seems simple to me. Just file for unemployment. You were fired by the way if he told you to look for another job. And tell the unemployment department what you said here minus the statements that an employer rep would use to show negligence.
It seems to me that the police investigation would be of use to you in proving your innocence, thereby showing that the employer did not have good cause to fire you for misconduct.
But because I spent years seeing things the other way around from an employer viewpoint I also see possibility in the employer’s case.
The definition of misconduct is ANY willful behavior that you SHOULD have known might or would cause harm to the employer’s interests. It is not necessary for the employer to prove you culpable for the stolen plasmas .. only that you were negligent in reporting something suspicious that you became aware of.
If you didn’t steal it .. you did in fact suspect something funky was going on when you entered the second room and I quote (except for a minor edit): “I went to the 5th floor and with my master keys I checked 504 and I saw a plasma tv is missing so I thought that Enginneering department was fixing the wall then I checked 505 and the door was open I look the Tv was missing to so I got scared so i didnt check the other rooms”.
Your then talked to the front desk lady .. who you said had exhibited some suspicious behavior already .. prior to the event.
And as a side point .. you didn’t complete your job .. I assume you were to inspect every vacant room???
Junior, why didn’t you call your boss or the police at that point??
That was negligent at least that would be my focus for the employer.
The last phone call where your boss said he wouldn’t give you a bad ref .. is relevant to your case .. It tends to show that the employer now understands he made a bad call with regard to who actually stole the plasmas
If this were your statement to the unemployment department .. I could raise point after point about why you should be denied unemployment.
Thanks for providing a great example of how what you say when you apply and during your interview can be used to deny benefits.
It’s important to take your situation and look at it as if it were a snowglobe .. from all angles.
You not only need to find your strong and weak points, but the other sides as well .. and then prepare for that.