A while back, I was involved in an unemployment hearing. My claim was denied, so I appealed. During the hearing — a three-way call between two of my former bosses, myself and a representative from the unemployment office — one of my bosses refused to be sworn in but was whispering the answers, full of lies, to the other, who was sworn in. I protested during the hearing, but my claim was denied again. I appealed again, asking the unemployment office to listen to the recording of the hearing, which they did, and they agreed the boss not sworn in was giving all the answers — but the ruling didn’t change. Is there any civil suit I could file?
If it was obvious that the person sworn in wasn’t providing the answers and wasn’t being coached by an attorney, then it’s highly unusual for the unemployment officer to allow that to continue. That said, it’s also highly unusual to be denied an unemployment claim once, let alone three times — particularly under the circumstances you describe. Unemployment officials and agencies are generally predisposed to favor employees over employers, and one usually has to do something egregious or have zero facts to support their case to be denied a claim. But if you still feel wronged, try filing a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. But based on what I know, your unemployment claim was challenged by your former employer and denied three times — so I’d start channeling your energy into finding a new job.
I have a government job with the city, which is a union job and which I have been doing well for 10 years. A new administration is bringing in new executives who want to change everything, including moving us into new jobs and departments. We think this is a ploy to set us up to fail so they can fire us. What are our rights?
Every enterprise needs to be able to hire the right people, fire poor performers and redeploy talent as leaders see fit to ensure the overall success of the organization — which benefits everyone. Instead of resisting change, embrace it and look at it as an opportunity to learn new skills.