ESD appeal hearing in 2 days - Do I need a lawyer for quit vs fired dispute?

Thanks for the insight. Did you also have a quit vs fired situation? I'm so nervous about going up against my former employer alone, especially since they have an HR department. I don't even know what evidence I should prepare.

Thank you! I just called the Unemployment Law Project and left a message. I have my schedule showing how they cut me from 38 hours to just 12 hours a week, plus some texts with my assistant manager where she admits the district manager wanted me gone. Hopefully that's enough?

That evidence sounds promising! Make sure to organize it chronologically and have copies ready to submit during the hearing. The judge will want to know: 1. Your previous regular schedule 2. When and how your hours were reduced 3. Any explanation given for the reduction 4. Any communications suggesting they wanted you to leave You'll need to explain that you had no reasonable choice but to leave due to the drastic reduction in hours (constructive discharge).

Yikes, 3 more months would be terrible. I'll definitely keep my Wednesday appointment then. Were you nervous during your hearing? Did they record it?

super nervous but judge was ok. yes they record everything and u have to swear to tell truth. my hearing was like 45 min, mostly my boss talking. make sure u have ur dates right, they asked me that alot

This is really helpful, thank you! Did you represent yourself or have an attorney? I'm going to write out my timeline tonight. I definitely can show that going from 38 to 12 hours made it impossible to pay rent.

I represented myself. The judge was actually pretty helpful in guiding me through the process. Just be prepared for your employer to possibly lie or exaggerate - mine claimed I had "performance issues" that were never documented. Stay calm when that happens and ask the judge if you can respond to each point. One more tip: at the beginning, the judge will explain the hearing process and ask if you have questions. This is a good time to mention you've never done this before and ask how you should present your evidence.

I've been trying to call ESD since yesterday with no luck! Just constant busy signals or disconnects. I'll check out that service - I would feel so much better if I could talk to someone at ESD before Wednesday. Did they give you specific advice for your case?

Yes! The ESD agent went through what the judge typically looks for in these cases and advised me on organizing my evidence. They can't give legal advice, but they explained how the hearing works, what questions to expect, and how to submit my documentation. Definitely helped calm my nerves. The hearing was actually less intimidating than I expected once I knew what to prepare for.

That's not always true. I know lots of people who've won their appeals. It really depends on the specific judge and how well you present your case. Being negative doesn't help someone who's already stressed about their hearing.

Just sharing our experience. My sisters boss straight up lied during the hearing and the judge believed them over her. The system is broken. But yeah OP should still try.

I have a coworker who might be willing to testify that the manager told her they were trying to get me to quit. Do I need to tell the judge ahead of time about witnesses? Or can I just have her available to call during the hearing?

You should call the office of administrative hearings ASAP and let them know you have a witness. They might want their phone number ahead of time. My coworker just had to be available by phone for like a 10 min part of the hearing, it wasn't a big time commitment for them.

Thank you! I'll definitely use that exact phrasing about "good cause" and "constructive discharge." Does it matter that I didn't specifically say those words when I quit? I basically just told my manager I couldn't survive on the hours they were giving me and they said "that's all we can offer."

No, you don't need to have used those exact legal terms when you quit. What matters is that the circumstances of your separation meet the legal definition, not what words you used at the time. Your statement that you "couldn't survive on the hours" is actually perfect evidence that the reduction created financial hardship, which supports your good cause argument. Bring documentation of your bills/expenses if possible to show the impact of the reduced hours on your ability to meet basic needs.

This is gold! I hadn't even thought about preparing questions for them. I know for a fact that I was the only one who had such a dramatic cut in hours. And I had received a positive performance review just two months before they started reducing my hours. Should I bring that review as evidence too?

Absolutely bring that positive performance review! That's excellent evidence that contradicts any claim they might make about performance issues. It shows the reduction wasn't justified based on your work quality. Also, if you have any documentation showing you were the only one with reduced hours, bring that too. This helps establish that you were being singled out, which strengthens your constructive discharge argument substantially.