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To write an Affidavit ?
HEY
I need some opinions.
A coworker was fired 2 months ago. Our employer has contested his unemployment, so he is asking that we write an affidavit saying that he did his job correctly and he was not warned or disciplined.
TECHNICALLY he is correct. He was not "warned" or "disciplined." There is especially no paperwork trail explaining anything. More often than not he completed a job - and our boss told him to re-do it (or yelled to re-do it) because it was not done to his exact standards/expectations - - which were not explicitly laid out before the completion of any project.
Now - here's where the situation gets sticky on my part. We all know that whenever anyone turns in any kind of notice (be it 2 weeks or 6 months as in the Army situation), our boss finds a reason to fire you and then contests your unemployment. Its his way of "ducking you" because you are "ducking him."
Here's the other thing... this coworkers actual work was NOT top notch. We found the majority of his mistakes AFTER he was fired. Before he was fired, his only indiscretion that we were constantly aware of was that he was a bit slow in completing work. He never did things fast enough for our boss. (LONG story - not worth getting into.)
Also - DH and I both work for this azzhat. If he finds out we are on the coworkers side we could potentially be fired. Since this ex-coworker will be joining the military in April its not 110% necessary (in my book) that he get his unemployment at the risk of our jobs. Although our ex-coworker does know that we are leaving April ourselves.
Thoughts?
Re: To write an Affidavit ?
Maybe it would also help to know that we ducked up ourselves by informing our coworkers about DH and I receiving a job offer that begins in April/May - they know we are leaving too.
I'm thinking if I don't word our "no" correctly - - - (DH wants to say no to coworker) - that he will be PO'd and tell that azzhat boss of ours our intention of leaving in 5 months which makes life a living hell at work from now till azzhat fires us for leaving.
How do you know if he was or was not warned or disciplined? Did he report to you? Do you have access to his personnel file? Is everything you know about him based on hearsay? Unless you supervised this guy, I would say anything you or the hubs said would be pointless as this guy never reported to you, and as you mentioned, was just a co-worker...
Is this a big company? Little company??? Many larger companies contest unemployment, but few actually send a representative to the unemployment hearing, unless the person was a total deadbeat...
I'd stay out of it, the system should work without your statement.
Being terminated for being a crappy employee doesn't automatically mean no unemployment benefits and if you work in an "at will" state, you don't need a paper trail of discipline or reprimand to justify being fired.
let him fight this battle.
It is a very small company. There were 4 (now 3) of us working side by side. We know EVERYTHING that goes on.
It is an "at will" state. I thought (from my own education) that businesses did need a paper trial proving discipline or reprimand. I understand that "at will" means they can fire you for ANY reason, but....
Do they need a paper trial of discipline or reprimand to fight unemployment? Without it, it is his word versus the ex-employee. Would the government automatically side with the employer?
Nope, an at-will employee can be fired at any time, for any reason. If the boss decides to let you go, 'dats it.
I guess it depends on the unemployment board as to what documentation they need but simply being fired does not preclude one from getting u/e. If he QUIT, then he'd have a hard time getting u/e. I'm in FL and I would fight some claims at my old job and they got the benefits anyway.
Don't get involved, he doesn't need you to win. Besides you DON"T know that he did his job well. You don't know what went on behind closed doors. All you know is that he did work there and now he doesn't.