UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE - HEARING AND APPEAL - CASE NO. 2

This turned out to be a complicated factual matter. The first day of hearings (as it turned out there were several days) began the next day on March 13 2009. I met with the Claimant an hour before the hearing, reviewed the file, etc. The hearing began. The Employer did not have counsel but appeared with the co-owner/manager. The ALJ began and took testimony from the Employer. It appeared that the Employer was now arguing that the Claimant quit without good cause. The ALJ expanded the issue to include voluntary separation and I requested an adjournment to prepare. Thus, in effect, I was able to use the first day of hearing as a means of discovery as I now knew the full theory of the Employer's case. The downside to this is that the Claimant was still not receiving UI benefits; however, the Claimant did have a spouse who was employed and family to assist. Thus, I made a judgment call that it would be better to take the time to prepare the case properly insofar as I only had one day notice of the hearing.