Denied unemployment because of 'quitting for personal reasons' when I quit to care for spouse after surgery

Omg this makes me so mad!! I had almost the exact same thing happen last year when my mom needed care. They twisted my words completely and claimed I quit for "personal reasons" when I specifically said it was for FAMILY CAREGIVING which is literally a protected reason! The adjudicator either didn't read my responses or deliberately misinterpreted them. Did you keep copies of what you submitted?

This happens more often than you'd think. When you appeal (good that you already did), make sure you cite RCW 50.20.050(2)(b)(ii) which specifically covers leaving work to provide care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition. Open heart surgery definitely qualifies. For your hearing, gather: 1. Medical documentation of your husband's surgery and recovery needs 2. Communication with your employer showing they denied remote work 3. Doctor's note stating someone needed to be present during recovery 4. Your original application and follow-up responses The fact your employer isn't contesting is huge - make sure that's emphasized in the hearing. Appeals often succeed when the initial adjudicator clearly misinterpreted the information. Good luck!

ESD has been doing this alot lately. they jsut trying to deny as many people as possible to save money. same thing happened to my cousin he quit becuz of safety issues at work and they twisted it to say he quit for "personal reasons" too. its like thier default excuse. he won his appeal tho so dont give up

im confused... did you file for PFML or regular unemployment? because they're different things. PFML is for when you need to take care of family but unemployment is for when you lose your job through no fault of your own. might be why they denied you?

I went through something similar last year. After weeks of waiting, my claim was denied for a completely inaccurate reason. I was absolutely pulling my hair out trying to get through to someone at ESD. I finally used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an actual ESD representative. They have a system that calls ESD for you and then connects you when they reach a human. Saved me hours of redial hell. They have a video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3 The rep I spoke with was actually helpful and explained that sometimes adjudicators select the wrong denial code in the system. My appeal was successful, but talking to someone first helped me understand exactly what documentation I needed for the hearing. Might be worth trying before your hearing.

Your appeal has a very good chance of success. ESD frequently gets these cases wrong initially, but the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) judges are much more thorough. I represent clients in these hearings, and they often overturn denials based on misinterpreted separation reasons. Make sure to highlight these key points at your hearing: 1. Medical necessity - bring documentation from doctor 2. Employer's refusal to accommodate (any emails or written evidence is gold) 3. The timeline of care needed (you mentioned intensive care initially, then monitoring) 4. That you had no reasonable alternative but to quit 5. That you're available for work now that the intensive care period is over The law specifically protects quitting to care for immediate family members with serious health conditions. Since your employer isn't contesting, and you have documentation, you're in a strong position. If denied again, you can appeal to the Commissioner's Review Office, but most legitimate cases get resolved at the first hearing.

This is so frustrating! Something similar happened to me, though in my case it was quitting due to hostile work environment. The adjudicator completely misrepresented what I said. I wonder if they're overwhelmed and rushing through claims? One tip for your hearing - when I had mine, I wrote up a very clear timeline with dates and submitted it beforehand. The judge specifically mentioned how helpful that was. Be super concise about why you HAD to quit (no other options) and focus on the fact that caring for family with serious health needs is explicitly covered under good cause provisions. Also, start claiming weeks again right away if you haven't been. If you win the appeal, they'll only pay for weeks you've claimed, not automatically for the whole period. Found that out the hard way!

I just reread your post and noticed you mentioned qualifying under 3 other reasons too - what were those? Might be helpful for others to know all the valid quit reasons!