Unemployment Benefits Denied – Can I win my appeal?

I was fired from my job in Colorado and am being denied Unemployment benefits and need to know if I can win my appeal. I was fired in July and filed for Unemployment and am being denied Unemployment Insurance.

I received a call from Colo dept of labor asking questions regarding my dismissal in order to determine if I was eligible for benefits. They then sent me a notice of decision and was denied because “You did not meet the established job performance standards. You were made aware of the employers expectations and did not comply. It is determined you are responsible for the separation and a disqualification is being imposed”

Here is the story…I was asking for a raise I was promised two years ago and started this conversation with my new boss (11 bosses in 6 yrs – high turnover) in Feb of this year. I was told by my new boss that he would champion a raise for me on August 2nd if I met the new assignments (in addition to my normal job duties) to get the raise.

I started working on all the new tasks in assigned in May and in June had an issue that caused my former boss to get upset and he started pointing out I missed all the deadlines we had set which I countered that I did not and provided written proof from our weekly meetings that the work was being done as we agreed upon. He then created a hostile work environment and created situation to get me to quit.

When it came time for us to meet for our weekly meeting before he left for vacation in early July he stated that a new person (much junior and less experienced than me) was starting and I would be reporting to her and that he said that it “was obviously not good for me” I did not reply only asking about her experience and he rambled off her short comings from her very inexperienced resume.

A week later after he got back from his vacation he scheduled a meeting with me and an HR director to discuss my work performance. We went through the entire list of tasks and we had a difference of opinion on the status of each task. The HR rep recognized this disagreement and then asked me about the raise situation and I simply responded I was waiting for my bosses response if he was prepared to support the raise. He (obviously) said no he would not “champion me” (which he never did). I stated my displeasure with that response and the next day I was unexpectedly fired.

At the HR meeting I asked what was the reason for dismissal was and was told “it was not a good fit” and “they decided to part ways”.

Need to determine my chances to win my appeal based on these facts and should I get a lawyer? Thank you

Anonymous,

All I can tell you is .. if it were me .. I’d appeal.

Colorado is tough (A very low recipiency rate), but I’ve seen that same statute they used to deny your benefits be used to allow benefits.

So if you want to know about the possibility of winning .. it is very possible.