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Originally Posted by twidget007
My husband and I work as a helicopter crew. He is the pilot and I am the mechanic. We quit our jobs because the director of maintenance was saying that my husband could overtorque or overtemp the helicopter and I would cover it up. He said this to our fuel truck driver and to one of our crew members from the US forest service, we were on a forest fire contract. He specifically used these words. They are buzz words in our industry. After these comments I was being questioned in detail about the aircraft and the fuel truck even saying he didn't believe me. This statement got around. 50+ miles away in a different town different company heard about it. We went through my husbands' chain of command. The chief pilot was pissed. The owner/general manager/director of operations only made excuses for the director of maintenance. We confronted the director of maintenance with the forest service crew in attendance. At first he denied it than he said it was taken out of context. This went on for about 6 weeks. We gave the director of operations 2 weeks to correct this situation. Nothing was done so we quit. We were denied unemployment benefits. When we had our appeal hearing we found out from the chief pilots testimony that the director of maintenance was not happy to have us hired in the first place. At no time did he indicate this to us. All we want is our unemployment benefits reinstated. A letter of apology would be nice but that would be a long shot. Is there anything we can do? We live off of the unemployment benefits throught the winter because we work contracts in the spring/summer/fall. Our jobs are somewhat seasonal and part time. This is a small industry. Being a female in it makes it even smaller. This director of maintenance was my direct boss. I have a good hunch he is saying negative comments about myself and my husband. Thanks for any help that can be offered. The company is in Louisiana and we live in Seattle, WA.
Kim
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It's probably advisable to contact a qualified employment attorney in your area if you've been denied unemployment benefits through standard appeal process. Your career is typical of an industry that works on a seasonal basis, i.e. weather or conditions permitting and isn't bound by any pre-determined set of observed holidays, the same as are members of the trades, laborers, etc. Though typically you can't collect unemployment benefits if you leave before your contract is fulfilled, you have the right to appeal. (As you already know.)
You'll most likely need to accumulate as much written documentation of the circumstances you've described, possibly via email or notarized statements (your attorney will indicate which is preferred.)You may also want to contact your local labor board as well to find out if you have any recourse there as well. You have the right to appeal the department of employment security's decision, even if you've already been denied once ..
especially if you have sufficient documentation which casts doubts on your professional qualifications. People simply can't "say what they want" in the workforce in this day and age without facing possible litigation, especially when it can so easily be documented by several credible sources, such as managers, the chief pilot you mentioned or the various people in your husband's particular "chain of command." The dept of employment security may not go so far as to recognize the term "slander" but they may eventually reconsider your benefits if you can prove you left your job through no fault of your own.
This link may give you more specific information:
http://fortress.wa.gov/esd/portal/un...lshandbook.pdf
I suggest you begin accumulating your documentation as soon as possible and also if possible, begin a detailed journal with as much specific information as you can obtain. You've already been denied unemployment income based on apparently inaccurate and negative information and if this trend continues .. if you receive "bad" employment references that result in your not being able to get employment in the future .. you'll most
certainly have grounds for litigation. It's important to begin (and maintain) your "paper trail" as soon as possible to protect your professional reputation .. much less your financial future.
Much good luck to both of you
