Unemployment Appeal?

Question

Any suggestions. A friend was terminated for "falsifying" a travel log. It was an error on her part resulting in double pay for 30 dollars worth of milage. This happened 6 months ago and they just realized it. They have no proof that she actually knowingly submitted a false log, yet on her application for unemployment they stated reason for termination was "falsifying" a document.

Any suggestion for the appealShe has never had any write ups at all. Truly an error for which she offered to repay.

Answer 1

She needs to document (in perfect English!) exactly what occurred, i.e.:

-on x date i submitted a claim for mileage to x destination to the company finance manager Susie Q
-i inadvertently submitted my claim for 50 miles when it should have been 25 (anything she can add here to justify the oversight would be helpful - she used the incorrect mileage rate, or whatever)
-neither Susie nor I noticed the oversight and I received my reimbursement
-on x date, i was asked to report to the office of Bob Badhair, the HR manager, who informed me that I was being terminated for falsifying my mileage report
-i indicated to Bob that there must be a mistake because......., and offered to make restitution for the $30. overage
-Bob informed me to pack up and leave asap (or whatever actually occurred)

administrative law judges are just like Dragnet - "just the facts, ma'am." tell your friend to answer what she is asked, not to drone on and on, give lame excuses, etc. she needs to present her side of the story as clearly and factually as possible. remembering to call the judge "your honor" and answer with "sir" or "ma'am" is also helpful. she should have an opportunity ahead of time to submit any documents which might help her case - the reimbursement form approved by Susie, copies of her excellent performance reviews (she is entitled to obtain these from her employee file), the company mileage policy that isn't clear on what amount per mile to use - whatever she can pull together. make sure it is submitted on time, and that she arrives 10 minutes early for the appeal hearing.

good luck.

Answer 2

If that was the only thing she'd ever done wrong on the job, firing her sounds like an over-reaction unless it clearly was deliberate, and not just a mistake. Has she talked to her supervisor about it, and apologized for the mistake?

Saying "they have no proof that she actually knowingly...." gives the impression that she did, they just can't prove it's deliberate. They don't have to - the document stands on its own.

Technically, she did falsify a document, so she's not real likely to win an appeal.

Answer 3

The company already fired her. They will put whatever they want on a document about her position & how it ended. She really can't do much about it unless the company is part of the Union. Tell her to just move on & find another job that has a Union who will back her up when errors like these happen. The Union are like lawyers, they can save your job for you when you fall into pits, such as being falsely accused.

Answer 4

hahaha, she falsified something and now wants unemployment benefits.

Oky doky.