I quit my job due to unsafe and unsanitary working conditions, also harrassment, do I need a lawyer to get unemployment?
work in a enviroment that many rats are running around, officier harrassment
Attorney Answers
4
Andrew Horowitz ·
You don't need a lawyer to make an initial claim (in fact the Unemployment service center will not talk with attorneys). Instead you should call in to the service center to claim benefits. The person who you speak with there will ask you questions about the circumstances of your resignation. As the other attorney who answered this mentioned, be sure to emphasize any efforts that you made to preserve your employment before quitting (i.e. reporting or complaints about safety and harassment issues). There is also an option to apply for benefits online, but I advise my clients to call in (even though you have to wait on hold). This makes it much more difficult for the employer to use your statements to the service center against you at a subsequent hearing.
Should your unemployment case go to a referee hearing (which would happen if either side appeals the service center’s initial determination), I strongly suggest that you have an attorney represent you at the hearing. It is a court of record, meaning that the hearing is recorded and the transcript will be used as the factual record for all subsequent appeals. So if you go to the hearing unrepresented, lose the hearing, and then try to hire a lawyer, it will be much more difficult for your lawyer to help you. I’ve seen a lot of clients who have lost hearings that they could have won had they been represented by an attorney.
0 upvotes
Edward Sweeney ·
Very likely. I have done alot of unemployment work from the Claimant's side, and unemployment referees look very closely at cases where you quit and claimed you had to quit because things were unsafe or unsanitary. Did OSHA do an investigation here? Did you call OSHA or a state health board? These can be tough cases. A slightly easier brand of voluntary quit case is where you have been harrassed, but it has to be much more than they made me work hard and they were a bit mean in ordering me around.
0 upvotes
Slade Mclaughlin ·
It is likely that your employer will claim that you are not entitled to unemployment because you quit. Call a lawyer.
0 upvotes
Timothy D. BeltWorkers' Compensation LawyerKingston, PA ·
If you were to walk into my office the first question I would ask you would be what did you do to attempt to preserve the employment relationship. Did you complain? Did you make specific requests for changes to be made? Who did you report the problems to, and what if any measures were taken to address the problem? The employee has an affirmative responsibility to attempt to preserve the employment relationship before he quits. If you have not done so, obtaining benefits may be difficult. To answer the question you actually asked, yes a lawyer would probably be a good idea.
0 upvotes
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