Can my wife win TWC appeal with former manager as witness after termination for policy violation?

This is definitely worth appealing! I won my case in a similar situation last year. The key thing TWC looks at is whether your wife INTENTIONALLY disregarded company policy. If she was explicitly told by a manager that something was acceptable practice (despite what the handbook says), she wasn't knowingly violating policy. Having that former manager testify is GOLD. Make sure you:\n\n1. Get a written statement from the former manager before the hearing\n2. Have them available to call in during the actual appeal hearing\n3. Prepare your wife to clearly explain she was following her training\n4. Submit any training materials or emails that might support this\n\nThe hearing officer will be looking at whether she had reasonable belief she was doing her job correctly. A manager's direct instruction definitely creates that reasonable belief.

Thanks for the detailed response! That's really encouraging to hear. We'll definitely get a written statement - I hadn't thought of that. Do you think we should hire an attorney for the appeal hearing or is this something we can handle ourselves?

idk the specifics but my couson had something similar happen - got fired for somethin they told him was ok to do. the appeal took FOREVER tho, like 6 weeks before he got a decision. he did win but said the hearing was super stressful and the company had their lawyer there trying to trip him up.

6 weeks?! That's way longer than we were hoping for. Did your cousin get backpay for all those weeks once he won?

I'm an employment law paralegal (not an attorney), and I handle TWC appeals regularly. This is a strong case based on what you've described. In Texas, the burden is on the employer to prove misconduct, and \

Thats BS that companies try to say \

wait does the witness actually matter if the policy was written in the handbook? my brother got denied even tho he said his supervisor told him it was ok because \

Great question. It's not a simple yes/no answer. Written policies do carry significant weight, but there are many TWC precedent cases where verbal instructions from management created a defense to misconduct allegations. It depends on factors like:\n\n- How clear was the written policy?\n- Was the policy consistently enforced?\n- What level of management gave the contradicting instructions?\n- Was the employee reasonably relying on those instructions?\n\nThe fact that this was during TRAINING is particularly helpful for OP's wife's case.

Trying to reach TWC to ask questions about my appeal was IMPOSSIBLE until I found this service called Claimyr. They got me connected to an actual TWC agent in about 20 minutes after I'd been trying for DAYS on my own. Totally worth it when you're stressed about an appeal and need answers fast. They have a video that shows how it works at https://youtu.be/V-IMvH88P1U?si=kNxmh025COIlIzKh but basically their site (claimyr.com) helps you skip the phone queue. Made a huge difference for me when I was preparing for my misconduct appeal hearing.

Thanks for the tip! We've been trying to get through to ask about document submission deadlines and keep getting disconnected. I'll check out that service.

OMG the EXACT same thing happened to my sister-in-law!!! She was told by her team lead that everyone uses their phone during downtime (against written policy) then got fired when a different manager caught her. Her appeal is still pending but it's been WEEKS with no decision. TWC is SO SLOW! I'm going to tell her about the former manager witness thing - that might help her case too!

My appeal took 22 days for the decision letter to arrive after my hearing. The waiting is awful, but if you win, they do pay you for all the weeks since your initial claim, including the waiting period. Make sure your wife continues to request payment every two weeks during the appeal process!

One more important thing: make sure your wife meets the work search requirements during the appeal process! Even though benefits are denied right now, if she wins the appeal, TWC will only pay for weeks where she properly requested payment AND completed her work search activities. The current requirement is 3 work search activities per week in most Texas counties. She needs to log these in her TWC account even while the appeal is pending.

Oh that's really good to know. She's been applying for jobs but hasn't been logging them since the claim was denied. I'll make sure she starts recording everything in the system.

did she get the denial in writing? what reason code did they use?

Yes, we got a determination letter that says she was disqualified due to

I won my appeal in a similar case last year. The hearing officer asked me very specific questions about what I was told during training versus what was in the employee handbook. Be prepared for questions like \

do they record these hearings? i'm super nervous about mine coming up

why was she lissening to the trainer instead of jus reading the handbook tho? like did she ever even look at the policy?

She did read the handbook when first hired, but during hands-on training the manager specifically told her and the other new hires \