Can I collect unemployment if I have been fired for insubordination

by Annonymous

My employer and I have not always got along well. I was fired when I asked to use the restroom, my supervisor said no, I felt it was an emergency so I went anyway. My employer said I was being insubordinate. I tried to explain to my employer if it was not an emergency I would have waited to use the restroom. Right now I have applied for Unemployment benefits. But Unemployment is taking a long time to review my claim. Do you think I have a good chance of being approved for Unemployment benefits?


I'll guess you're in New York...the emails I get seem to be about the length of time it's taking New York State unemployment to process claims.

Your case for unemployment is the kind the state makes calls to the parties to get further details.

It will depend on former disciplines and whether the employer followed there own policy. It's also going to be about an emergency bathroom break.

Insubordination is a failure or refusal to follow an order, directive or instructions given by a superior. But it had better be a reasonable order.

I can tell you this...if an employer wanted to know if they'd win a hearing because they denied someone an emergency bathroom break...I wouldn't tell them I was a getting a warm fuzzy feeling about their chances.

I'd want to know if there were some underlying problems with the employee that could be used to justify the negative response from the employer to a common need of all.

It would not be uncommon though for a person to be initially denied unemployment, but win on appeal or vice versa for things like this. In other words no matter who wins initially...it very often ends up going to hearing.

It's just the way it works.

So, you will need to decide for yourself because you have an intimate understanding of your relationship with this supervisor and what the state will be told by the employer. The state will be interested in the "final incident". It's not that what went on prior to the final incident has no relevance, but the specific event that caused the discharge is looked at very closely in relationship to prior events.