Unemployment re determination in New York (file, receive, work, money)

[Jsd16]

Hi all,
New to the forum but looking for help. I was laid off on 7/26, when my boss’s cafe was shut down by the health department in NYC, for operating without a permit. My boss called me the following Monday, told me to bring in any receipts owed and all my hours for the last two weeks. He said they couldn’t afford to pay the fines, and would instead like to make sure everyone was paid. He has two other cafes (both without permits and illegally operating, which I found out after the cafe closing), however they were fully staffed. I asked him if this meant I could file for unemployment, he said yes. A week later he told me he was going to reopen the cafe, I told him I would work there if it became legal. He told me I don’t need to worry about that, he knows people. He decided not to open it, because the fines were too high.

I received two weeks of unemployment, so I thought I was good to go. Then I got a letter that said I lied and quit and owe $800 plus fines. I immediately filed for a hearing, because I never received paper work to send in evidence or voice my side. A month later I get a call from DOL. They say this isn’t a hearing, but they are going to give me a chance to explain my side. I tell him what happened, cafe closed, owner had no money, I was forced to leave. He says that my former boss said I quit to move upstate. This is in NYC, so on days off and weekends I traveled upstate (a few hours away) to stay with family. I frequently talked about this at work. After losing my job I had to split time between the Hudson Valley and NYC, because I couldn’t afford my apartment. He found this out through an old coworker and told them I wanted to take the summer off. This is untrue, as the place I stay part time upstate is commuting distance to NYC, I just can’t afford to live in the city full time until I have a new job. I explained this to the Unemployment agent, asked him how am I supposed to prove anything. He said get a copy of my old lease to prove I wasn’t forced to move upstate. Of course I can’t find it. My boss also told them he offered me a job at one of his other cafes, which is not true as they were fully staffed, and sent the DOL paystubs from when I covered a few shifts at that location. I asked DOL agent if I should get witness statements from the employees of that cafe, he said no as it could get them in trouble and wouldn’t really help. He said the best thing to do is ruin my bosses credibility because it’s he said she said.

This is so upsetting because he’s just lying, and the DOL is believing whatever he says without proof (no job offer in writing, I have photos of the main cafe closed). So DOLs going to rule to uphold the current determination against me, and I’ll have to file an appeal for an ACTUAL hearing.

What can I do to help my case? I’m going to look for the lease, get affadavits from the other employees who were let go, and even have a letter from the founder of the cafe explaining how this owner has a history of lying and vendettas. The owner doesn’t want to pay the unemployment and is upset I told vendors about the permits (as he has other cafes). He also lied and said one of the cafes was under construction when it was actually closed, so I’m going to get an affadavit from the museum it was located in saying they no longer work with him. Basically try to find as many lies as possible, but there’s no way for me to prove he let me go, as he was smart enough to do it in person. Is there anything else I can do? I’m sure the hearing won’t be for a month, but it’s boiling my blood he gets away with screwing so many people over (He’s been sued and has to pay over 3 million in judgments).


Edit**
I realize I probably said too much to unemployment, but am looking for help/advice on how to prepare for the hearing as the benefits will remain denied (I was told over the phone).

[Rabrrita]

The first thing you can do to help yourself is recognize you may have already said too much to get you denied. You should not have spoken to or tried to state your case to unemployment as some of what you did will hurt you big time. Some of the items unemployment said your employer mentioned would be non-issues and normally would be nothing to worry about. However, you may have added fuel to that fire with your responses and explanations, so for right now, we have to wait to see if your benefits resume or stay denied.

[Rabrrita]

We need to see exactly the reason and legal citation they use for your denial. Just knowing they are going to deny means jack squat. Based on what they said your employer mentioned and the stuff you told them, it could be one or all of the following used to deny. Job refusal, Job abandonment, Quit for relocation, Quit for no reason, Disgruntle, or even Labor dispute. All those are in play based solely on your post. Each are handled differently so until we have a specific reason, not a lot we can do but tell you not to speak to unemployment again.

Now, if you're looking for something to do while you wait for a the specific written Determination in the mail, start with writing down for you benefit a compete and chronological list of events. For each event that supports your case, note what verifiable evidence you have to support your position. Make sure you have a physical copy such as phone logs, emails, pay stubs etc. Do not rely on electronic copies only as they can be lost.

Next write down all what you were told your employer stated and for each one, write down what verifiable evidence you have to refute their statement.