same thing happened to my brother in law, took forever but eventually got resolved

To answer your administrative remedies question - you can file a formal complaint through NYS Department of Labor's internal grievance process, contact the NYS Office of the State Comptroller, reach out to your elected representatives, and if applicable, file complaints with federal agencies if there are civil rights violations. Document everything and keep pushing through official channels. Courts generally won't hear cases unless you've exhausted these options first.

The unemployment system is so broken. Even when you have legitimate reasons to quit they make you jump through hoops to prove it. Meanwhile the harasser probably still has their job and will do it to someone else. Sorry you had to go through this.

Hope this helps! I quit my retail job for similar reasons (different type of harassment) and got benefits approved after about 6 weeks. The adjudication process takes time because they have to contact your former employer and investigate. Just be completely honest and provide every piece of documentation you have.

If you're having trouble getting through to the NYS Department of Labor to check on your claim status or get clarification about your eligibility, I had good luck using claimyr.com - it's a service that helps you actually reach a real person at the unemployment office. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Saved me hours of busy signals and dropped calls when I needed to verify my job separation reason.

From what I understand the main categories are involuntary job loss (layoffs, firing without misconduct, business closure), reduced hours that qualify for partial benefits, and some voluntary separations with good cause. The NYS Department of Labor looks at each situation individually but your layoff should be pretty clear cut for approval.

If you're having trouble reaching them about your appeal or need to speak to someone urgently, I used a service called Claimyr that helped me get through to an actual NYS Department of Labor representative. You can check it out at claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Really saved me when I was stuck in adjudication limbo.

Just a heads up that if your appeal deadline falls on a holiday or weekend, you usually get until the next business day. But don't quote me on that - double check the fine print on your notice.

The whole system is a mess regardless of who's in office! I filed claims during both periods and NYS Department of Labor always finds ways to make things complicated. At least now they're not dealing with all those federal programs that kept changing every few months.

just curious what was the actual unemployment rate in NY when trump left? i remember it being really bad but dont remember exact numbers