Unemployment Missouri Benefits Denied! Help/Advice? (St. Louis: hotel, attorney, unemployment benefits)

[TwinBrownie]

Hi everyone,

I worked as a room attendant at the Hampton Inn downtown St. Louis for a little over a year. I had recently received a good review and .25 cent raise. The only time I was ever written-up for misconduct was attendance; and after a year of good attendance and not taking off, my attendance improved a great deal....no more warnings.

The hotel has a policy in place for 100% guaranteed for guest who have a valid complaint that comes to the hotel and stay, but are not pleased with their rooms and/or service(s). As for the room attendant employees, a policy is in place that dirty are soiled linen/sheets complaints..is an automatic termination!

Moving forward, 4-5 weeks after my review, I was fired for misconduct for the above offense. I was called in the manager's office and shown the evidence they had in a plastic bag...that a guest had complained about stained bloody sheets. There were blood stains all over the sheets! I'm like WTF! There is no way I would have not caught those stains on the sheets, and left it on the bed...knowing I would be automatically terminated! No way! I had (16) other rooms that day, and have always made sure to change the linen on all beds because of above policy in place! There were no complaints from the other guest(s).

The procedure after a room attendant cleans a room; the housekeeping supervisor goes in and inspects the room before assigning a guest to the room. The bed is the largest piece of furniture in the room, and they supposedly should check sheets/linen for stains. Therefore, if supervisor had (visually) did their job and checked to make sure the linen/sheets on bed were free from stains; there is no way the guest would have gotten away with this complaint and as a result....me, fired from my job. Make sense?

I have waited weeks for unemployment benefits to be paid which now has been denied by the State!

I'm a fighter so I am going to appeal their decision. I know I should seek legal counseling instead of me going it alone; however, I can't afford an attorney.

BTW, this is a non-union hotel.

Opinions, suggestions, and/or referral to good legal aid for the poor in Missouri on this matter, please!
Thank you.

[Versatile]

I think there is a LABOR RELATIONS BOARD.

St. Louis | NLRB

[lepoisson]

What was the reason for denial?

[TwinBrownie]

The State ruled misconduct-I didn't change the bed sheets. As a result, I didn't perform my job.

[Versatile]

Originally Posted by TwinBrownie

The State ruled misconduct-I didn't change the bed sheets. As a result, I didn't perform my job.

Challenge the decision if you can.

[TwinBrownie]

Any ideas on how would challenge the ruling? This is all new to me.

Thanks for responding to post.

[lepoisson]

Originally Posted by TwinBrownie

Any ideas on how would challenge the ruling? This is all new to me.

Thanks for responding to post.

The letter you received, are there any instructions on it for appealing a decision?

I found this site: How to File an Appeal | Missouri Labor

[TwinBrownie]

The letter states to file an appeal, I can fax or send letter to start the appeal process. I've already faxed appeal document requesting one. However, it doesn't go into any details how to win the appeal and recieve unemployment benefits.