Unemployment initially approved and now employer is being contested...Please help!

[twciswreckingmynerves]

I was granted unemployment benefits, I filed my claim 9/5/2011 and in Texas I was told that the employer had 14 (or maybe 15 days not sure) to contest my claim from the mail date and it seems employer responded 10/15/2011, clearly they missed that deadline so why were they granted a hearing anyway? I actually found out today that although they missed the original deadline to file they have another opportunity to file and receive a tribunal hearing, argh LOL

I was initially approved for my benefits on Oct 5, and was receiving checks so now does this mean my checks will stop until the hearing? I actually read they won't stop so can anyone confirm this for me.

Also there was no misconduct on my part, I was doing my job to the best of my ability. I lived 5 minutes from my job and I came to work every day and worked diligently without missing days, no write ups etc but it appeared they did everything within the last 6 or 7 months to sabotage my work and I didn't fight them on this and just continued to do what I was asked to do until inevitably I was let go.

I received one write up were my employer advised and warned me about not reaching quota and that was corrected but then she came back and said I made too many mistakes on Q/A and and thus was letting me go. I honestly need to get copies of everything from my employee file but somewhat apprehensive about reaching out to my former employer b/c honest at my age I'm a bit confused about what the exact complaint about my work is all about considering I was there for 9 years and never had a problem.

I figured my age (I'm in my 60's)was a contributing factor, the amount of money I was making per hour and my employer actually made a comment that I'm making too much money and so I figured that statement meant the company or the manager just didn't want me there anymore, I've read everywhere that they have to prove misconduct and can't for the life of me figure out how they are going to prove I deliberately conducted myself in such a way that I wasn't doing my job b/c I only have one write up in my file well I should unless they attempt lie or falsify statements b/c I had a great employment record, met my quota's and earned monthly bonuses and mind you if I was making mistakes and not reaching my quota I would not get a bonus which I did before I was let go...

I've been doing my research, getting prepared for my hearing and I came across another website that stated: to avoid a misconduct disqualification in such a case by arguing that what your former employer perceived as misconduct was not intentional but, rather, a result of incompetence. What's your thoughts about that statement? Could I use the incompetence defense?

Do you think they will deny my claim anyway? Or is this something all companies do just to discourage ex employees from pursuing claims. Should I be worried?

I guess I'm thinking about how and in what ways can I can defend myself against charges of misconduct which is something I'm researching and would like to here feedback. I found something interesting online about incompetence defense:

Incompetence Defense
Although an employer may have the right to fire a worker for poor work performance, inefficiency in performing work or failure to meet the employer's standards is not considered misconduct because it is generally not considered to be intentional. Therefore, you may avoid a misconduct disqualification in such a case by arguing that what your former employer perceived as misconduct was not intentional but, rather, a result of incompetence. The incompetence defense, however, will not prevent a misconduct disqualification if you were terminated because you were regularly sloppy and negligent or admittedly stopped caring about the quality of your work. Of course Texas is an at will state and they have the burden of proving misconduct.

Thanks in advance for your help

 

[twciswreckingmynerves]

Oh and to be clear I just want to know what to expect at this tribunal hearing and should I be scared sh*tless? This really sucks, here I was thinking I was in the clear only to find out that the employer is appealing my claim for benefits.

 

[twciswreckingmynerves]

Come on guys...Any takers on this?

 

[army judge]

There is no magic here. These administrative hearings can go awry quickly.

I suggest you focus on proving your worth and your employer's mischaracterization of your efforts.

You might have an age discrimination claim. Hard to say. That could come later. For the moment, prove your value. That disproves your employer's assertions. Then pray it goes your way.

If you lose, you can appeal. This isn't about you. This is about money. Hang in there.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

1. I agree with army judge on the potential age discrimination claim. If you had no write-ups and suddenly they begin to appear but your work output (and their requirements) haven't changed much then what you suspect may be the unfortunate sign of age discrimination.

2. This isn't my area of expertise but I'm not sure if you are appreciating what the advice says about incompetence over misconduct. I would never plead "incompetence" - that sounds like you're pleading guilty to being a lousy performer. What I would do is state that the reason the employer terminated employment had nothing to do with any misconduct (which there wasn't) but a disagreement on the competence of my performance. Does this make sense?

Keep a positive attitude and don't go in with a defeatist mentality. You are aware that your seniority means that you are also one of the higher paid employees for simialr work. You should state everything you're saying here regarding how performance was perfectly satisfactory without complaint for a long time. Only recently has any issue suddenly arisen relating to the quality of your performance at work and they let you go. Don't say too much, only enough to get your point across to the administrative officer at the hearing. They will know what is going on and without more, it would seem questionable whether the tribunal would even entertain the challenge to your unemployment. Best of luck.