Any chance of unemployment?

[Austinou88]

Hi, I am in Oklahoma and was Dismissed from my job.

One night at work I ate a Stale Sandwich Donation that was already written off, most of the time the people who come to pick them up don’t do it so we’ll just end up throwing them away. I’ve seen Store Product Delivery Drivers, Managers, and other people who eat them all the time and I didn’t think it was something that was breaking the rules, seeing that policy was not enforced regularly when others did it.

Also there was one night I went to go throw away some "Stale Taquitos" and ate one before writing it off in the computer, since we’re allowed to eat Stale Taquitos. I’ve been there 3 ½ years and have never had any problems when I’ve wrote stales off. They’re saying I violated the Employee Honesty Policy, and theft.

Do I have any chance of appealing this?

A

 

[cbg]

Have you applied for benefits and been denied? Or have you not yet applied?

(There is no law you can invoke that will guarantee you, your job back. That is between you and your employer.)

 

[commentator]

File your claim for unemployment and see. There's no downside to filing and it very well may be that if you were terminated you might be approved. To keep you from drawing unemployment, the employer will need to show that they had sufficient misconduct reason to terminate you. What the unemployment agency is going to do is explore 1) Did you know about this company policy, was it in the handbook, had you signed off on it, was it made clearly understandable to you? and 2) did you have reason to think that if you violated this company policy, you might be terminated, yet chose to do it anyway? And then of course, did you have any prior warnings or write ups related to this issue, so that you knew that violation of this policy could reasonably lead to your firing but you chose to do it anyway?

If you are monetarily eligible for unemployment, you'll begin making weekly certifications for the weeks that pass after you file the claim, you'll begin the recommended job searching activities, and you will be given an initial decision either approving or denying the claim. Then at that point, either you or the employer can appeal and there will be a hearing before an appeals judge/referee/officer. This is an agency hearing and both parties can be present, in person or on the telephone. And they will look again at the evidence that you are or are not out of work through your own fault, and if the employer can show that they had enough of a valid reason to terminate you.

You have nothing to lose by filing and finding out if you can draw while looking for another job. Unemployment doesn't last long and it's not much money, but its something you certainly should apply for.