So this is my defense, i have my court case tomorrow!

So this is my defense, i have my court case tomorrow!

I have my hearing tomorrow for unemployment. I worked at a bank for 14 months and was in good standing(nothing above an informal warning for one or two things) and was fired about 4 months ago. I was fired because I supposedly falsified bank documents by force balancing my drawer. Force balancing is when you count your cash and enter the numbers in the computer and they don't match up with what you really have in the drawer.

So, what really happened is this: I closed my window and balanced my drawer like any other day and after i entered everything in the computer it told me i was over by 100 dollars. I dealt with a lot of cash everyday and sometimes it took more than one try to count correctly. Anyone who has had a cash drawer before can tell you that. So the procedure I was taught from the beginning was to first recount the drawer because chances are u probably made a simple error. I recounted my drawer and looked in the most logical places that an error could have been made in and after recounting legitimately believed I had found the problem and finished closing up. Then a week later an investigations lady comes in to the branch and interrogates me(yes that is the correct term for what she did) and claims I force balanced on purpose. Up until that point I had no idea there was even a problem with the way I balanced. I was terminated for falsifying bank records by force balancing my drawer.


So now I have to go to court tomorrow and show that any error I made was not with malicious intent and was not anything more than human error. Basically my defense is this: The burden of proof is on them and in order for them to disqualify me for benefits they have to establish misconduct as defined in Maywood Glass Co vs Stewart which is willful or wanton disregard for employers interests with malicious intent. They also must show that they are justified in dismissing me from my job.

According to the employee handbook I received in training the company is allowed to immediately terminate someone if they falsified bank documents which includes force balancing a cash drawer. It later states in the handbook that the companies definition of falsification is "KNOWINGLY misstating, altering, adding information to, or omitting or deleting information from a bank record or system which results in something that is untrue, fraudulent or misleading."

This leads me to believe that the only thing the company(Barnett Associates INC) can do is attempt to prove that I balanced that way on purpose. SO I don't think they have much of a case because something like that is extremely difficult to prove.





Hi,

I wish you luck.
so, are you in California or New York?

I ask because the decision you referenced is a California decision and Barnett and Associate is quite a large New York based company that is one of those unemployment cost control companies .. much like the even bigger one I used to work for.

You'll have to let me know how it goes for you.