Chances of winning an unemployment appeal in GA? (Atlanta: attorney, house)

[missjupiter]

I was fired from my job 2 months ago and was denied unemployment. I had an in-person appeal last week and am very anxiously waiting for the results. What percentage of unemployment appeals are won in GA? My attorney thought it went very well.

First of all, the person who fired me was himself fired last month, so he wasn't at the hearing. His boss and the HR manager were there (my former manager's boss works in another building, the HR guy works in a building miles away, so neither of them were around when I was supposedly behaving so horribly and neither had anything to do with writing me up). My firing was based on 3 incidents which were either completely fabricated or exaggerated; in each incident, another employee was the aggressor and that person's word was taken as fact - I was never allowed to defend myself or tell my side of the story, nor were my witnesses spoken to or allowed to present statements. My employer presented 3 write-ups as evidence: The first was neither signed nor dated, and I'd never even seen it before (so they planted evidence in my personnel file; the same thing was done to a colleague who was fired over the summer); the second contained my refutation of the details presented; and the 3rd was from my discharge (I'd refused to sign). My employer did not have any witnesses at the hearing and as I said, the person who fired me is no longer employed at the company.

Because no one at the hearing, with the exception of myself, of course, was a witness to any of the events that led to my termination (my main witness could not make it and I only had her written statement), my attorney believes that most of my employer's testimony will be considered hearsay. He thinks I'll get my benefits....but I'm nervous. I am a single person and will lose my house if I don't have something coming in while I'm looking for another job, so I can't be cavalier about this. I was the 3rd long-term employee to be fired under suspicious circumstances (and the 2nd with a workers comp claim to be terminated) in a 6 month period; one of the other employees appealed and lost, but she didn't have an attorney representing her and she'd also had a major confrontation with a customer.

Interestingly, the week before I was fired I'd slipped and hurt my back & filed a workers comp claim. I was on 3 different painkillers, had doctors' notes saying "sit down work only" but was forced to do my regular job anyway (which involved lifting, standing and bending), and at my termination meeting was so out of it that I could barely hold my head up. You gotta love these "right to work" states.

[DreamKeeper]

Unfortunately, nowadays the chances of winning UI appeals are very slim. The states don't have the money to payout the UI and the corporations don't want thier UI cost to increase. So you now have the states and corporations teaming up together to deny as many UI claims as possible. I've known multiple people who had legitimate UI claims get denied for bogus reasons by the corporation they worked for and then also lost on appeal to the state. Ten years ago these people would have won thier UI appeal but not in the fascistic world we now live in. The one benefit you have is that you had an attorney. That probably gives you a little better chance of winning your appeal but it's still an uphill battle nowadays. Let us know your outcome...

[Gapeach69]

Do you have a Worker's Comp attorney? You need one, one that specifically deals just in worker's compensation cases. If you live within driving distance to Atlanta, PM me and I will recommend one for you. My husband just finished dealing with his 16 month long worker's compensation claim. Despite the fact that you were fired, you are entitled to draw temporary total disability benefits. 2/3 of your income or up to $500 per week. Forget the UE. It's highly likely you will never get to draw it. My husband's attorney even had UE benefits put into his settlement documentation and the state of GA still denied him because worker's compensation is not considered earned income.

[alexis1408]

You're chances of winning depends on the situation, the timeliness of submitting your appeal and how well prepared you are for the interview. I won my appeal. I was a temp employee that never called off in the duration of my employment. The first time I called in, I was terminated. The employer stated that I no called no showed for a week, which as a flat out lie. Luckily when I called in to my agency, I sent an email to my site manager as well so I did have the proof needed. After my claim was denied, I appealed the decision the very next day, within a couple weeks I received notification for a telephonic hearing. I did forward over my email proof along with my assigned docket number. I stated my case very clearly without seeming emotional (upset) after a week I got my decision reversal. Good luck, if you pray about it and prepared, things can always work out in your favor. As of the moment I'm about to receive a total of 11 weeks back payments. What a blessing.

[PJA]

I know a lot of people who have won appeals especially if the person who actually did the firing is not there which is what happened in your case.

[Lhoughton80]

I received the letter that my appeal for benefits was approved after my employer didnt attend the telephone hearing. 1 day later I get another lwtter stating that I have another hearing..wth. i am so confused and was thanking God yesterday for this blessing that now feels like is being taken away. Did my employer appeal not being on the call???