Voluntary Quit in Anticipation of Discharge and Denied Unemployment Benefits

(California)

I Was Found to of Voluntary Quit in Anticipation of Being Discharged and Denied Unemployment Benefits

Hi,
I worked at a hospital in California for over 5 years. I was put on unpaid admin leave pending an investigation due to an incident that my manager could not tell me about. I realized what the incident was and admit that I made a pretty big mistake with a patient’s record. A few days later my manager told me that I would have to come in for a meeting with HR and I was 99% sure I was going to get fired even though it was my first offense. Instead of having that on my job history, I resigned and on my resignation letter I stated “personal reasons and a need to focus on my education” because I did not want to list anything “incriminating” on it. I figured I would give this a shot and see if I have a chance although I know it is highly unlikely. If I were to file for benefits and list voluntary quit due to anticipation of discharge, would EDD find out what the anticipated discharge was going to be? I doubt I would have been able to transfer or get suspended due to the fact that this was a no tolerance policy. Any advice would be great! Thanks!

VQ

A voluntary quit in anticipation of discharge is almost always found to be without good cause ..

But since we’re talking about California .. let’s check ..

This is what the UIBDG has to say on the subject of a quit in anticipation of discharge.

What this suggests to me, is that when the employer responds to the notice of claim filed .. they would have to admit that the meeting’s purpose was to terminate you for misconduct for the claim to move forward and be adjudicated on grounds of misconduct or a “quit in lieu of discharge.

A smart employer would never admit you were about to be terminated .. .. they’d just respond that you quit for personal reasons and provide the resignation letter and wait to see if you appeal .. where most likely .. regardless of the facts that came out .. you would again be denied .. and I’m only saying this because you told me it was a “pretty big mistake”.

Had you allowed them to terminate you .. yes, it might have damaged your resume, but if this was an “isolated instance made in good faith” you would have automatically had that argument to pursue.

My thought is that by quitting, you became the moving party and to win an appeal .. you would have to rely on the employer to testify on your behalf .. to sustain that first it was a quit in lieu of discharge .. secondly that the reason was not for misconduct.

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