will I win an appeal?

by marie

(phoenix, az)

My employer moved my position from AZ to CA and I initially said I would make the move for the promotion. (I then started paying into CA taxes) Unfortunately, the housing market in AZ made it impossible for us to sell our home without a huge financial loss. Because I chose to stay in AZ, my employment ended. There were no other job openings with my company in AZ so I had no option but to not take the promotion. The employer is saying that I made a “life” decision to stay in AZ and now they are fighting my unemployment claim. I have sent the appeal judge memos and documentations regarding these details and wrote a letter stating why I had good cause for benefits. My hearing is next week and I want to be prepared for their fight back. I initially signed an agreement that I would move to CA, but we had no idea the housing issue would arise. They offered no monetary help with the financial loss we would endure if we were to move. What is your advice for my hearing? Do you think I have good cause for benefits? I did make a lot of effort to stay on with the company as well but like I said there were no openings during this time. Thanks.

Marie

Hi Marie,

I can’t tell if you worked in California.

And I don’t know the substance of the agreement you made with the employer, but I do know that you may have good cause to quit in AZ .. because the distance of the new job made the work unsuitable enough for you to decline it.

My only concern would be that agreement you signed ..

By the way .. the employer’s appeal sucks. “Life decision”? The question is whether the “life decision” was a reasonable choice according to AZ UI law.

Comments for will I win an appeal?

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Mar 25, 2010
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response to chris…

by: marie

Chris,

I live in AZ and was suppose to move to CA. I worked there about twice a month for 2 days at a time (traveling) for 1 year but I was paying into CA benefits. I signed an agreement that said I would move to CA BUT they verbally agreed to give me enough time to sell my house. When the “numbers” came back, it wasn?t feasible for us to move. Thus, I lost my employment. I felt pushed out because I wouldn?t/couldn?t move even though the job I held was conducted from Phoenix prior for 20+ years. They had decided the year before that they wanted the position to be stationed in CA. I tried to make it work, but couldn?t….any advice for my hearing? I feel I had good cause to stop working for them. I felt pushed out… Thanks.

Marie

Marie,

Just focus on the fact that you did everything possible to “preserve the employment”, but that the agreement to move and continue in the employment was contingent upon the sale of your home.

If I hear the news correctly, the real estate market has tanked in AZ.

It should be clear that it was not being able to sell the house that made moving financially unfeasible to accept the new conditions.

It was the employer who altered the conditions of employment .. not you.

AZ does have a regulation which allows for quitting if you can prove that your personal reason for doing so was compelling enough to satisfy the “reasonable person standard”.