The wrong separation date my employer had on my denial of benefits can that help me in my appeal. Should I bring that up

Question

I was wrongfully fired after 5 yrs there. Never received any warning for attendance for guidelines in employee handbook. I had to call in the second week after returning from a 34Day quarantine  Indiana H.D. Put me on cuz mom got COVID and taking chemo. I used protocol for call in. No warnings ever I knew of for attendance. They were upset and used my quarantine against me. My regular boss was out on leave. She agrees in text saying that if I’m fired for calling in it’s wrong. I was given different reasons as to the actual reason for my termination. My appeal coming up says the issue is if the employer fired for just cause or if I voluntarily left work without good cause in connection to the work. I don’t understand what there saying. Can you give any advice in how to fight this. And on my original denial letter, my employer didn’t even have the right separation date. Can I use that? The Director who was brought in by fill in manager made decision to fire me. And it really wasn’t right

Neil Pedersen · Answer

The EDD will disqualify you from benefits if it determines that you (1) you voluntarily left your position, or (2) you were terminated for misconduct.  Poor performance is not misconduct.  Misconduct suggests a form of intentional violation of company rules or insubordination. 
 
The wrong separation date does not seem to be material to either of those issues.   
 
It will not be enough for you to complain that you were fired for unfair reasons, so do not go there. 
 
Do your best to establish that you did not voluntarily quit, nor did you intentionally violate company rules. 
 
Good luck to you.

Louis George Fazzi · Answer

I disagree with some of Mr. Pedersen's analysis. 
If you were fired because you followed Covid protocols, your firing should be against public policy and therefore would, in my opinion, give rise to a wrongful termination claim. 
Not only should you bring this up in your claim for unemployment benefits, but you should also file a claim with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing that you were the victim of a discriminatory firing against public policy. Go here to do that: https://www.dfeh.ca.gov/ 
Next, look for an attorney with experience in wrongful termination cases. There are many good lawyers in your area and in the bay area who are expert at these kinds of cases. 
More to the point of your question,  willfull misconduct is the only thing that can disqualify you from receiving unemployment benefits. Stick to your point that you did not leave your employment at all, but that you were fired.

Eva Zelson · Answer

While your experience sounds unfair given the circumstances, California is an at-will state, meaning an employer can terminate you for any reason or no reason at all. While the need to quarantine during a global pandemic is a valid reason to miss work, your employer is not obligated to hold your job indefinitely if the quarantine continues for a long time, 34 (business?) days in this case. You have a good basis to claim unemployment benefits because you did not quit, and you were not terminated for misconduct - you simply could not attend work because of a close family member’s medical condition. If this should happen again in the future, consider taking FMLA leave, which allows you to take time off work to attend to a family member’s healthcare.

Q: The wrong separation date my employer had on my denial of benefits can that help me in my appeal. Should I bring that up