EDD Claimant Who Resigned for Good Cause Wins at the Appeal Hearing

Today, we received good news from a client who we represented at an appeal hearing at the San Francisco office of unemployment insurance appeals board. The situation was somewhat unique. The client, who was a new employee for the City of San Francisco had a terminally sick mother, who lived overseas and who needed constant care and supervision. Our client approached his employer's hr and explained the situation, expecting them to suggest what options he has in order to take care of his mother.  The employer than told him that his only option was submitting a letter of resignation, and that's what he ended up doing.  Our client applied for and was initially granted unemployment benefits until the employer appealed, arguing that the employee could have and should have explored other options, such as requesting leave and since, according to them, he resigned without good cause, he should not be qualified for unemployment benefits. 

At a hearing, we argued that even though our client could have and should have requested leave, the employer is in a better position to do that, and the fact that they offered resignation as the only option (as was reflected in the e-mails) suggest that obtaining leave would not have been likely. Also, the employer did not clearly communicate leave rights to the employee upon hiring (the employee handbook was very lengthy, vague and lacked employee signature acknowledging receipt).   

In its decision, the Appeals Board first pointed out that under the law caring for an aging parent is a substantial compelling reason for resigning, entitling claimant to benefits. The judge found claimant's testimony that he was never advised of leave, that he tried to find someone else to take care of his ill mother but couldn't, and that he returned from overseas just a few weeks after and attempted to get his job back with the same employer, to be credible evidence that he resigned with good cause, affirming the decision to grant the benefits.  

Qualifying for unemployment benefits after resigning is often an uphill battle, since the employee has to show "good cause" for resignation, which is substantial, compelling reason for quitting.  It cannot be a trivial reasons, such as bad office relationships, unfavorable performance review, not being promoted, etc. If you are thinking of resigning but you are concerned about your potential eligibility for unemployment benefits, it would be a good idea for you to run your situation by an experienced employment attorney, who will be able to assess your chances of obtaining unemployment benefits in light of your specific circumstances.  

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