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Unemployment Appeal Question...LONG
My Husband was fired in February following the Birth of our baby. He was working as an EMT and pulling two 24 hour shifts a week. He took 2 weeks off to be with me and our daughter and extended it a few days more because she was born with a heart issue and had to be in the NICU for 8 days.
The company stated they fired him for not having a current CPR card on File, he provided them with the card in October when he renewed it. In November they asked for it again, and he explained that he had already given it to them, and asked if they could look for it. If they couldn't find it he said he would bring it in. He never heard anything, until he was notified in February that he needed to bring the card in the next shift he worked or he would be taken off the street until he brought it in. Nothing was mentioned of him being fired nor did he refuse to bring it in. He was sent home the next shift before he even got through the door because he had facial hair which he promptly shaved and apologized for forgetting to do so before he came in. Because of this he forgot to give them his card that day. He did have it with him but in the chaos of being sent home he forgot to give it to the office.
The next shift he went in he was informed that he was taken off the roster and essentially fired. He then filed for unemployment and was denied due to misconduct. The claim denial from the Illinois Unemployment Office stated he was "discharged due to him not bringing in his EMT card" He was told it was his CPR card both of his licenses are current so that was never an issue.
We have an appeal in the works but based on this information do you think we could win it??
One of the points he plans to bring up is that nothing was said to him and then he was suddenly released after being out for the birth of our daughter, also that the claim denial is incorrect in that it states his EMT card was the problem not his CPR card which would make the companies denial Fraudulent. I should also mention that the company let him knowingly work from October to February without his card on file and it was never a problem until he took the time off. We think it has more to do with him being off for paternity leave but they obviously can't fire him for that becasue of FMLA. They were well aware of the fact that I was pregnant and that he would be taking time off and when he called in to extend the time he was told that it was not a problem and to let them know when he was ready to come back. he called the Friday before to let them know he would like to work on Monday and nothing was mentioned in that conversation about the need for the card.
Re: Unemployment Appeal Question...LONG
http://www.illinoislegalaid.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.dsp_content&contentID=99
I sometimes dealt with unemployment claims/hearings (in HR) for a major corporation.
There should be a hearing with the appeal. Your DH, a representative from his company, as well as someone from the state will be on the call. Your husband, as well as the company, will state their cases and the decision will be made by the state. So at that point, except for their argument, the decision is essentially no longer in the company's hands. I'm not surprised they tried to deny the claim, as it would be standard practice to always deny when a person is fired. If they didn't deny unemployment it would be like admitting the firing was unjustified which open them up to litigation.
Your DH should be prepared for the hearing and have all his arguments/evidence outlined for himself. Make sure he has a timeline of events and if he has exact dates that would help his case as well.
Good luck!