Help, Unemployment benefit denied because employer stated I violated several company policies which I feel was unjust (August: unemployment benefits)

[Celeron]

Sorry for the long thred, but I had to be specific so it could make sense. hope its not to confusing. I was terminated from my lead position the end of December, 09 for what was alleged "violating MAINTAINING the confidentiality of the investigation, inappropriate use of e-mail, prohibition against sexual harassment and other workplace harassment". (Im not even sure what prohibition against sexual harassment is) In August 2009, my department was to have a HR representative come to educate the whole dept on some new attendance policies. Two associates on my team, let’s call them A & B, were having conflicts with each other. About a week before the HR rep came A was asked to meet with the dept. manager because of complaints from the team about B's hygiene (odor). The manager told me that A took offense of this and placed the blame soley on B. A took off work for a few days, I assumed upset over meeting. Not knowing that there was an investigation being conducted on B and being the lead I felt it was my duty to advised B if talked to about A, not loose control of temper as done in past staff meeting, because manager informed me that if B acted out again, B would be terminated. (Also, manager always reminds me that it is my job to supervise and lead my team’s appropriate behavior). So, the question is, was advising B consider a breach of confidentiality not knowing of an investigation? Also, being the lead, my responsibility is to keep track of my team's job performance and their whereabouts when not on break. A was away from desk for a long period of time. I felt as a lead I should inquire the whereabouts of the time away from desk. The reply was "in a meeting", to that I replied "Oh, with the HR rep"? Which the reply was "yes". To my ignorance, I was informed that little question I asked was also considered a violation of confidentiality. The allegation (Inappropriate e-mail and prohibition against sexual harassment) was a complaint from A, who is retaliating to get B in trouble, but implicating me. B has called me to look at emails at times, which is allowed when work is slow, but I also informed B not to have inappropriate e-mail. The other allegation, (other workplace harassment) was made by B. Unaware that a claim of harassment by B was made against me stating that I said something about B's personal business loud enough where others could hear. The team is very small (8) and close quarters work space. B was always talking loudly across the room discussing personal information to everyone on the team. So, replying out loud to was the norm. I feel B was retaliating because I had to reprimand some misconduct issues. Unemployment has denied my claim, stating that I do not qualify because of the termination reasons. Can anyone please give me advice?

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Celeron

Sorry for the long thred, but I had to be specific so it could make sense. hope its not to confusing. I was terminated from my lead position the end of December, 09 for what was alleged "violating MAINTAINING the confidentiality of the investigation, inappropriate use of e-mail, prohibition against sexual harassment and other workplace harassment". (Im not even sure what prohibition against sexual harassment is) In August 2009, my department was to have a HR representative come to educate the whole dept on some new attendance policies. Two associates on my team, let’s call them A & B, were having conflicts with each other. About a week before the HR rep came A was asked to meet with the dept. manager because of complaints from the team about B's hygiene (odor). The manager told me that A took offense of this and placed the blame soley on B. A took off work for a few days, I assumed upset over meeting. Not knowing that there was an investigation being conducted on B and being the lead I felt it was my duty to advised B if talked to about A, not loose control of temper as done in past staff meeting, because manager informed me that if B acted out again, B would be terminated. (Also, manager always reminds me that it is my job to supervise and lead my team’s appropriate behavior). So, the question is, was advising B consider a breach of confidentiality not knowing of an investigation? Also, being the lead, my responsibility is to keep track of my team's job performance and their whereabouts when not on break. A was away from desk for a long period of time. I felt as a lead I should inquire the whereabouts of the time away from desk. The reply was "in a meeting", to that I replied "Oh, with the HR rep"? Which the reply was "yes". To my ignorance, I was informed that little question I asked was also considered a violation of confidentiality. The allegation (Inappropriate e-mail and prohibition against sexual harassment) was a complaint from A, who is retaliating to get B in trouble, but implicating me. B has called me to look at emails at times, which is allowed when work is slow, but I also informed B not to have inappropriate e-mail. The other allegation, (other workplace harassment) was made by B. Unaware that a claim of harassment by B was made against me stating that I said something about B's personal business loud enough where others could hear. The team is very small (8) and close quarters work space. B was always talking loudly across the room discussing personal information to everyone on the team. So, replying out loud to was the norm. I feel B was retaliating because I had to reprimand some misconduct issues. Unemployment has denied my claim, stating that I do not qualify because of the termination reasons. Can anyone please give me advice?

First of all, the way you wrote this, with no paragraphs or breaks makes it almost impossible to read. I don't have a cut and dry answer for you, but you can talk to someone that handles unlawful firings. I will be honest, it sounds like you were at best on the border of doing things that the company didn't allow and you were warned or that is what I am getting from your posting, but as I said, your posting is very hard to follow.

Keep us posted on what happens..

Nita

[FreeSpirited1]

There may be some advice there.

[SoCaliTrojan]

How did you advise B? When discussing confidential issues, you need to bring the employee into a private room. As you mentioned, all work stations were close quarter. If you advised B at his desk, then that was inappropriate.

As for inquiring about A's whereabouts, it was inappropriate to mention that he/she was or had been meeting with the HR rep.

The above two may or may not be an actual breach of confidentiality since you didn't know about the investigation (unless as the team lead, you were expected to have known), but they were still inappropriate supervisory actions.

As for the sexual harassment claim by A, did she have any supporting evidence such as eyewitness accounts or documentation from prior incidents?

Anyway, you were denied unemployment benefits because it has been deemed that you were at fault for the loss of your job. You will have to appeal and schedule a hearing to fight the denial of unemployment benefits. You will have to somehow prove that your termination wasn't a result of something you did.

If B was advised in private, you may need the other associates to testify how the norm was in the workplace and that B repeatedly spoke out loud about his personal matter.

As for A's claim, since the HR rep was already scheduled to be there to teach the new attendance policies, it may not have been out of place to inquire as to whether the two were meeting. Perhaps she was planning to take some leave off of work, so you thought that she wanted to inquire with the HR rep how the leave would interact with the new attendance policies.

As for the sexual harassment claim, you'd have to figure that one out on your own.

I didn't address the inappropriate use of e-mail, but many companies log them. If you didn't use it inappropriately, you can use the logs to clear your name. Or, if everyone did, maybe you can get B in trouble and somehow use his termination to your advantage (just kidding).

[Jnet57]

Originally Posted by Celeron

Sorry for the long thred, but I had to be specific so it could make sense. hope its not to confusing. I was terminated from my lead position the end of December, 09 for what was alleged "violating MAINTAINING the confidentiality of the investigation, inappropriate use of e-mail, prohibition against sexual harassment and other workplace harassment". (Im not even sure what prohibition against sexual harassment is) In August 2009, my department was to have a HR representative come to educate the whole dept on some new attendance policies. Two associates on my team, let’s call them A & B, were having conflicts with each other. About a week before the HR rep came A was asked to meet with the dept. manager because of complaints from the team about B's hygiene (odor). The manager told me that A took offense of this and placed the blame soley on B. A took off work for a few days, I assumed upset over meeting. Not knowing that there was an investigation being conducted on B and being the lead I felt it was my duty to advised B if talked to about A, not loose control of temper as done in past staff meeting, because manager informed me that if B acted out again, B would be terminated. (Also, manager always reminds me that it is my job to supervise and lead my team’s appropriate behavior). So, the question is, was advising B consider a breach of confidentiality not knowing of an investigation? Also, being the lead, my responsibility is to keep track of my team's job performance and their whereabouts when not on break. A was away from desk for a long period of time. I felt as a lead I should inquire the whereabouts of the time away from desk. The reply was "in a meeting", to that I replied "Oh, with the HR rep"? Which the reply was "yes". To my ignorance, I was informed that little question I asked was also considered a violation of confidentiality. The allegation (Inappropriate e-mail and prohibition against sexual harassment) was a complaint from A, who is retaliating to get B in trouble, but implicating me. B has called me to look at emails at times, which is allowed when work is slow, but I also informed B not to have inappropriate e-mail. The other allegation, (other workplace harassment) was made by B. Unaware that a claim of harassment by B was made against me stating that I said something about B's personal business loud enough where others could hear. The team is very small (8) and close quarters work space. B was always talking loudly across the room discussing personal information to everyone on the team. So, replying out loud to was the norm. I feel B was retaliating because I had to reprimand some misconduct issues. Unemployment has denied my claim, stating that I do not qualify because of the termination reasons. Can anyone please give me advice?

Call the Dept. of Fair Housing and Employment.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Jnet57

Call the Dept. of Fair Housing and Employment.

This was posted 3 months ago and OP hasn't come back. I am sure she has contacted whomever can help her by now..

Nita