My boss had my manager let me go over the phone one morning after working at the company for 3.5 years because I called in after slamming my hand in a car door the day before. The background is that my boss, the owner of the company, is mentally ill--he has manic episodes where he spends the weekend up all night on his computer obsessing over the smallest things, planning "projects" for whoever was lucky enough to pop into his head--and what happened is that he had spent the entire day before e-mailing me all kinds of stuff he wanted me to help him out with on Monday, and then on Monday he came in after no sleep, found out I called out, got pissed and had my manager call and let me go over the phone. She gave me no real reason why on the phone, never said I was fired. Later on I text messaged my boss and asked, "Can this at least be a lay off?" and he replied that it could. In the past 2 years one employee was fired for using pot and heroin at work and he put that she was laid off, another employee had been fired for throwing away 20 trashbags full of merchandise instead of putting it away in the warehouse and he put that he was laid off --both to allow them to collect unemployment. And those two people were told they were fired on the phone. I was never told I was fired. My boss had talked to me after and agreed to me being laid off, and also gave me 2 weeks of reverence pay as well as paying me out commission on the Amazon account I had run all year for the next two months even though I wouldn't be there doing any of the work. A week later I e-mailed my boss asking him a question about my health insurance coverage and when exactly that would end and he replied back saying he changed his mind and said:
Bethany:
I am not going to do anything for you for unemployment or insurance.
You should have already found a job in this holiday season when employees are hiring. It would then be up to you to show your worth and have them keep you on. At the very least, any job could be a stop gap while you figure out what you really want to do.
Additionally, you are quite adept at making your own income via the web.
I really don’t want to be involved in enabling you to sit back and do nothing via unemployment. It is the exact opposite of everything I want for you.
Your expenses are minimal and you have a family to help you. Stand up on your two feet and deal with it.
You were not fired for missing work. If that were the case, many Magic Scarf workers would also be fired. I am very tolerant about people acting like whining idiots but I told you more than once that your position required you to be there more than if you were just a packer. You were fired for misleading me about your life and your goings on. You asked me to send you to Colorado at my expense with a lame reason that made no sense. You went to Colorado with your own money on a Friday when you called in sick. We weren’t supposed to know you were on your way to Colorado. You came back from Colorado late after missing a Monday saying you were going to move there permanently. You had me go through gyrations working out a “work from home” plan for you. You then told me it was about a boy. Then you changed your mind. Since then you missed more work. Then you punched a wall. How ridiculous.
You need to get a driver’s license, find a real job and learn how to be straight with people.
If you want to talk to me in person, let me know. Don’t think I have time for this but I will make time for you. Expect a lecture.
In the meantime, get a job and stop blaming other people and making excuses.
Ralph
So basically he changed his mind and is now saying I was fired, and because he thinks that me being able to collect unemployment would be "the worst thing for me" and might cause me to not get a job, he is not going to help me collect it.
Just so you know, the thing he says about me calling out sick on a Friday before going to Colorado he is mistaken about and I have proof--I had told my manager ahead of time that I would be out that Friday because I had to get oral surgery. At the time I first told her I would be out (for the whole day) due to oral surgery, I had no plans to go to Colorado, but then when I made the plan to go I decided to leave that night after my dentist appointment.
Will I be able to collect unemployment? Should I say I was fired or laid off when I file?