Employer claims doctor's notes were not provided, but they were. What do we do?

(Illinois)

My sister's unemployment was denied. The reason provided was poor performance and undocumented absenteeism. She left work early due to a medical emergency related to her pregnancy (she was 7 months pregnant). She provided doctor's notes within HOURS of leaving the hospital. They fired her the next day, and have now denied unemployment, claiming she didn't provide them with documentation. Her boss had been verbally abusive to her for months. He called her names, sang songs to her face about firing her, and lied to the owners about her performance. In addition, it has become pretty evident that he was being financially dishonest (to put it lightly - we believe this involved hundreds of thousands of dollars) with the company and using my sister to cover for it (ie blaming financial discrepancies on her "incompetance"). Your article on filing for the appeal advises that 'less is more.' When filing for the appeal, we will be short and direct, stating simply that documentation was provided for her short (1.5 day) medical absence. However, when it comes to the hearing, how much of these extenuating circumstances surrounding the real reasons we believe she was termated should be brought up?


Hi,

I guess my question is .. can your sister prove the extenuating circumstances?

If not, I suggest focusing on the reasons the state has denied benefits.