Fighting PA Willful Misconduct

[Hdf15]

I was terminated recently from a position that I worked very hard at, within a small business. My job description included two titles, one of which I no longer did, but instead, multiple respondibilities were thrown at me throughout the course of my employment, some of which I didn't even know about until I heard about it from someone else. Communication was atrocious within this company. An exsmple of daily occurrences: my original schedule given to me was completely wrong, and when I was approached about it, there was complete denial from my supervisor's end (even though I had email documentation, that no one had protested to my schedule.) I was unaware that it was wrong, and it went on for months, with no one saying anything to me about it. I felt I went above and beyond my position, and, even spoke to my employers about my workload, and how unrealistic it was, because I was afraid of things falling through the cracks, due to time constraints. This company is a mess, and it is a joke within that the owner is a sociopath, since he frequently flips out on people with little disregard for anyone. The final event was a complete miscommunication, involving another business owned by the same owner, that I was not even aware of until days after it happened. I felt I was thrown under the bus, which happened quite frequently, in my opinion.

When I was terminated, I was told they felt it wasn't a good fit at the time, and I was personally told by the director of the company that they were eliminating my position, so at least I could collect. Absolutely nothing was documented, to my knowledge, and I never signed anything. My only performance review was very positive, and I have been awarded employee of the month, within my short time there. There was absolutely nothing I did purposefully to try to make this business fail as I really, personally wanted to see it succeed. So, now, I'm left wondering what to do, as, until today when I got a letter from the UC Dept, I was under the impression that I was terminated due to budget cuts.

Any advice?

 

[cbg]

Has UI actually been denied?

 

[eerelations]

So what was this "willful misconduct" that your former employer said you engaged in?

 

[Hdf15]

Not yet, but it's been suspended until they receive my side of the story, which, as I was completely unaware otherwise, was that my position was eliminated.

 

[cbg]

Then that's what you tell them.

Stand by for Commentator.

 

[Hdf15]

We had a photoshoot on the premise, and the staff of our business wasn't happy about the level of professionalism last time, so I was asked to put together a list of rules, etc., to make sure that the photographer/models weren't disruptive, but also that they had everything they needed. It was broached multiple times, in meetings, that we should approach it as if it was a request from our new director. I showed my supervisor, with, what I thought was an understanding that this was being sent to the modeling agency (because who else would I send it to) and she said it was good. After that i composed a polite, friendly email, added the list, and after that, didn't hear about it until I was told I didn't need to come in to coordinate it. I had no clue that this woman, who is notoriously difficult to deal with, had flipped out, called the owner, who called the director, who then was mad at me, because I had sent it. I was completely unaware and given no chance to try to explain that it had been approved.

 

[cbg]

I understand. I have no further advice other than to tell them exactly, truthfully and politely what transpired from your point of view.

 

[ecmst12]

I would absolutely not volunteer anything about the photo shoot or the emails unless asked. Just tell them what you were told when you were terminated. Don't mention anything else unless specifically asked.