stating i walked out

by Lucy E. Guzman
(Coconut Creekm Florida US)

they are stating i walked out of my job after stating i was on suspension. this is not what happened they called me into the office and stated i was suspended due to my attendance i refused to sign their complaint it was untrue. then when i left the room they yelled at me in front of everyone and stated to give them my badge and my keys. this told me i was fired. i took my belongings and went to apply for unemployment. i was never called back from this so called suspension. and was denied unemployment benefits due to job abandonment.

i have an 11 year old daughter and with the way the economy is today i would never leave my job i have a mortgage and a child to support.

this company has the worst turnover i have ever experienced and the worst empoyees. there are the management. most of the people i worked with are gone. they quit or were fired. when i asked the HR people to look into their turnover i was ignored. . please advise as i have requested an appeal and would like to be prepared for it. i have witnesses and 2 letters from former co-workers in my defense whom witnessed what transpired on that date.

Lucy Guzman


Hi Lucy,

I hate to tell you this, but it does sound like job abandonment.

Why don't you tell me why on earth you refused to sign .. you should have counter documented at the time of your suspension with the reasons you felt the employer was wrong to suspend you.


Even if the hearing officer is convinced by you that you were fired .. they'll want to know if it was with good cause... like for insubordination.

According to you this is what you are trying to prove.

You have two choices .. you were either fired without good cause, or you quit with good cause.

The proximate cause of this whole situation is when you left the room without signing. The employer then apparently followed you and asked for your badge and keys. Lucy, an employer would do this also if they suspend you. You did not say you reported back to work at the end of the suspension .. if you had and the employer said you no longer have a job .. then you would have been fired. You said the employer did not call you back, but the employer reasonably assumed you quit when you walked out.

How is the high turnover relevant to your separation? You were about to be suspended for poor attendance issues .. this tells me you probably had received prior warnings and had been made aware you would be suspended.

The question is whether a reasonable person interested in preserving their job would just leave in the middle of a disciplinary action by the employer which by the way was not a discharge .. it sounds like you quit even if you had valid issues with the disciplinary action.

Why don't you tell me why you left the meeting. Why was the suspension unfair? Maybe I'm missing the reason you thought you had good cause to walk out.