Legal Question in Employment Law in Georgia

My unemployment claim was denied so I filed an appeal. The reason given was I violated company policy but I did not directly violate company policy myself nor did I know it was going to be violated. I was a loyal employee to Delta Air Lines for over 14 years and would not do anything to jeopardize my job. The individual on my flight companion pass acted in an irrational and ignorant manner when on standby for a flight in Miami on 9/30/12. I was not present at the time of the incident nor did I have any knowledge what happened till the morning after. The individual had been on my companion pass for over 2 years and this was the first time anything like this happened and this was the first time anything like this ever happened during my employment of 14 years. He was aware of The Non Revenue Flight Guidelines and Rules and had always followed them until 9/30/12. I thought my flight priviledges would be rovoked or suspended but instead I was suspended on 10/01/12 pending an investigation and then my employment was terminated on 10/11/12. HR told me they would be contacting the individual on my companion pass for further questioning but later talking with him they never did. Further more I was given the option to resign or be terminated and led to believe by Delta Air Lines that if I chose to be terminated I could receive unemployment. Do you think I have a chance in winning my appeal for unemployment?


Asked on 12/11/12, 11:05 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Gregory Fidlon Law Offices of Gregory R. Fidlon, P.C.

To uphold the denial of benefits, your former employer has the burden to prove that you knowingly or with conscious neglect violated its policies or work rules. If your only wrongdoing was to provide a flight companion pass to an individual who then chose to act in an unruly or inappropriate manner, I do not see that as a knowing or conscious violation by you. However, it is possible that Delta has a different position. For example, if it could show that you violated policy merely by allowing this person to use your companion pass when s/he was not one of the authorized categories of persons Delta allows its employees to offer companion passes to.

You have the right to retain an attorney for your unemployment appeal hearing and it is usually a good idea to do so if you can afford it.

I would be happy to offer you a free consultation to discuss the matter further. If you are interested, please click the link below.

http://www.fidlonlegal.com/consultation_request.html

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Answered on 12/12/12, 12:05 am
Scott Riddle Law Office of Scott B. Riddle, LLC

Same answer you received last time. No one can possibly tell you that you will win with only one side of the story.

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Answered on 12/12/12, 3:54 am


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