NBI SEMINAR MATERIALS: When is it Important to Fight an Unemployment Compensation Claim

I  had the great opportunity to lead (perhaps “teach”) a continuing legal educationseminar hosted by the National Business Institute.  The subject was “Human Resource Law From A to Z” and I had opportunity to speak on Unemployment Compensation.  I was joined by other capable attorneys who each had their own topics to present.

Although NBI published the materials, I retain the ownership of the portions I wrote, which I will post here in this blog.

Copied below are the materials I wrote for the section entitled “When is it Important to Fight an Unemployment Compensation Claim.”

Thanks!

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When is it Important to Fight an Unemployment Compensation Claim

As mentioned above, it is not atypical for an initial claim for benefits to be denied.  Two parties can contest an application for benefits: the employer and/or the Department of Labor.

When a claimant applies for benefits, the employer is alerted and is given the opportunity to supply the Department of Labor information about the claimant.  Often the information provided by the claimant matches that of the employer, but sometimes it does not, which could trigger a finding of ineligibility for the claimant.  Other times, the employer specifically provides information to the Department of Labor in order to prevent a successful application for benefits (e.g.: detailing the willful misconduct which led to the termination), which also typically triggers a finding of ineligibility.

There are times when the employer does not provide anything to the Department of Labor (or the information it provided agrees with the claimant), yet the claimant is still found ineligible.  In these cases, the Department of Labor makes a determination based on the application itself and, based on that alone, the claimant is determined to be ineligible.  For example, if the claimant has insufficient benefit weeks, and/or his application makes it appear he quit voluntarily, and/or he has a medical condition rendering him unable to work, then the Department of Labor could determine the claimant to be ineligible based on the information provided on the claimant’s application alone.

When a claimant is found to be ineligible for benefits (or when an employer’s ex-employee is found eligible) and one disagrees with the determination, one has a right to appeal the decision.  As noted above, it is critically important to file the appeal (via email and/or facsimile and/or mail) by the appeal deadline listed on the Notice of Determination, otherwise the appeal will be dismissed without consideration of its underlying merits.

It is almost always important to “fight” (e.g.: appeal) an adverse unemployment compensation determination.  Obviously, a claimant should appeal an adverse determination in order to secure benefits for himself.  An employer should appeal an adverse determination order to keep its costs down by avoiding paying out benefits for the claimant (more on this below).

A timely appeal of an adverse unemployment compensation determination leads to a hearing before a referee.

Texas “No Boycott of Israel” Law Held Unconstitutional

This is from religionclause.blogspot.com which you can find here:

A Texas federal district court last week held unconstitutional the Texas statute requiring all state contracts for goods or services to include a written verification from the contracting company that it is not, and during the contract will not, boycott Israel. In Amawi v. Pflugerville Independent School District, (WD TX, April 25, 2019), a Texas federal district court granted a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the anti-BDS statute or enforcement of any clause in state contracts barring boycott of Israel.  The court, in a 56-page opinion, said in part:

Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on their claims that H.B. 89 is unconstitutional under the First Amendment because it (1) is an impermissible content- and viewpoint-based restriction on protected expression; (2) imposes unconstitutional conditions on public employment; (3) compels speech for an impermissible purpose; and (4) is void for vagueness.

The suit was brought by five individuals who wished to contract, or had contracted, to provide services such as speech therapy and early childhood evaluations for a school district; translation of an art essay for a state University museum; judging high school debate tournaments; and providing podcasts for a public radio station. The court concluded that all of these were contracts with sole proprietorships, and were thus covered by the statute. Washington Post reports on the decision.

You can learn more about this issue here.

Family Law Tip: Visitation or Custody for a Pet?

I post some tips regarding family to my Linkedin page (see here) from time to time, and I thought I should start sharing them here too.  Below is one of my family law tips, and you can read my articles on family law here and other posts on family law here and all are cataloged here.

Yessource: 10/29/07 – Steve Howe live with Fragile

Here are my latest uploads to YesSource, my Yes rarities youtube page (about which you can read here).  This post is another addition to my series of Yes music posts and a collection of all my Yes-related posts is here.  Yes, of course, is a, if not the, premier progressive rock band, and I am an enormous fan of it.

You can see all of my Yessource uploads here.

My latest YesSource uploads can be found here:

• Yes Guest: 10/29/07 – Fragile (feat. Steve Howe) part 1/7 – Siberian Khatru
• Yes Guest: 10/29/07 – Fragile (feat. Steve Howe) part 2/7 – A Venture
• Yes Guest: 10/29/07 – Fragile (feat. Steve Howe) part 3/7 – South Side of the Sky
• Yes Guest: 10/29/07 – Fragile (feat. Steve Howe) part 4/7 – Roundabout
• Yes Guest: 10/29/07 – Fragile (feat. Steve Howe) part 5/7 – Soon
• Yes Guest: 10/29/07 – Fragile (feat. Steve Howe) part 6/7 – I’ve Seen All Good People
• Yes Guest: 10/29/07 – Fragile (feat. Steve Howe) part 7/7 – Starship Trooper

American Airlines Flight Attendants Will Appeal Ruling On Facebook Sexual Harassment

The Melissa Chinery and Laura Medlin cases against American Airlines, cases currently being litigated by my firm, the Law Office of Faye Riva Cohen, P.C., have been featured in an article entitled “American Airlines Flight Attendants Will Appeal Ruling On Facebook Sexual Harassment,” in Forbes by Ted Reed published on September 12, 2018, which can be found here.

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Two flight attendants who sued American Airlines, alleging that they were sexually harassed by male co-workers in Facebook postings, say they will appeal after a Philadelphia judge dismissed their cases.

Faye Riva Cohen, the Philadelphia attorney who represents flight attendants Melissa Chinery and Laura Medlin, said Tuesday that she will file in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in about a week.

“American Airlines is [generally] proactive in disciplining employees who do things that negatively impact the airline, but is dragging its heels in trying to enforce social media [policy] for their employees,” Cohen said.

“I feel [American] has no interest in social media policy,” Cohen said. “They just hang it out there.”

Cohen said the court did not adequately consider the new norms of the modern-day workplace, where social media has replaced lunchrooms and water coolers as sites where workers congregate, but bullying cannot be addressed face-to-face. “People are being bullied [and] there should be repercussions when that occurs,” she said, noting that flight attendants, who work with varying sets of co-workers, are particularly vulnerable.

The two flight attendants filed their case in March 2017 in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia.  At the time, Chinery was based in Philadelphia while Laura Medlin was based in Charlotte. Chinery has since transferred to the Phoenix base. Their cases were consolidated.

The insults were posted within a Facebook group, whose membership is limited to American flight attendants, by a group of four to five Philadelphia-based male flight attendants.

Medlin said she was harassed with insulting terms including “sow,” while Chinery said she was referred to as “flipper,” a synonym for prostitute. Both women said the harassment was related to union activities in support of leaders whom their harassers opposed.

U.S. District Court Judge Eduardo Robreno dismissed the cases on August 27, when he granted American’s motions for summary judgement.

In Chinery’s case, Robreno ruled, “Looking at all of the complained of behavior objectively, even that which does not appear connected to gender and instead appears to be related to Chinery’s stance on union issues, the behavior does not amount to severe or pervasive sexual harassment.”

He cited behavior by the four men including posting a photograph of a broken record; referring to Chinery as “flipper,” saying the defendant “did not present a good appearance to passengers [and] allegedly posting a picture of a bedazzled vagina.”

“The court concludes that the complained-of conduct was not so objectively severe or pervasive that it would unreasonably interfere with an employee’s work performance,” wrote Robreno. He was nominated for his post in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush.

Regarding Medlin’s case, Robreno wrote that she alleged sexual harassment on Facebook, between 2012 and 2015, including calling her a “sow” and a “mean girl.”

“While there are a number of serious questions that are raised by Medlin’s claims, including whether the alleged harassment over Facebook was due to her sex rather than her opinions regarding labor unions and whether it actually occurred in a work environment, it is clear that the alleged instances of harassment were not adequately severe or pervasive to establish American’s liability,” Robreno ruled.

American spokesman Matt Miller said the carrier, “is proud to foster a work environment in which all team members are respected.

“When American receives reports of alleged harassment in the workplace, those complaints are investigated and appropriate action is taken,” Miller said.

NBI SEMINAR MATERIALS: Key Information to Present Regarding the Initial Claim

I  had the great opportunity to lead (perhaps “teach”) a continuing legal education seminar hosted by the National Business Institute.  The subject was “Human Resource Law From A to Z” and I had opportunity to speak on Unemployment Compensation.  I was joined by other capable attorneys who each had their own topics to present.

Although NBI published the materials, I retain the ownership of the portions I wrote, which I will post here in this blog.

Copied below are the materials I wrote for the section entitled “Key Information to Present Regarding the Initial Claim.”

Thanks!

__________

Key Information to Present Regarding the Initial Claim

The information provided when making an initial claim ranges from very basic information about one’s employment to the causes of one’s termination from employment.

Nowadays the initial claim is typically done via the Department of Labor’s website, which can be found here: https://www.uc.pa.gov/unemployment-benefits/file/Pages/File%20an%20Initial%20Claim.aspx

Aside from the website, there are other options to apply for benefits:

• By telephone: statewide toll-free number at 1-888-313-7284 (open call hours are 8a.m. – 4p.m. Monday & Tuesday, 12p.m. – 6p.m. Wednesday, 8a.m. – 4p.m. Thursday and Friday from 8a.m. – 12p.m.);
• Services for the deaf and hard of hearing:
• TTY: 1-888-334-4046;
• Videophone: 717-704-8474 every Wednesday from noon to 4p.m.;
• Paper Form: a paper application can be downloaded and mailed to the address indicated on the form.

It is likely obvious, but the basics about one’s employment to include on an initial claim are as follows:

• one’s dates of employ (first day of work, last day of work, and final day on payroll);
• one’s rate of pay on the last day of work;
• the name, address, and telephone number of oneself and one’s employer;
• one’s social security number;
• one’s email address;
• pension or severance package information;
• one’s bank account for the deposit of the benefits (optional);
• one’s own personal identification number (if there has been a prior filing) and the employer’s account number (if known);
• the cause of separation.

Describing one’s cause of separation is critical as certain causes of separation can render one ineligible for benefits (as described above).  As a result, a claimant must be judicious and precise when describing the cause of termination.  Unfortunately, the application only gives a few options (in a pull down menu if applying online) and these options are often overbroad, imprecise, and/or give the wrong impression as to the actual cause of separation.  One may offer an explanatory statement, but claimants often have insufficient space and write without consideration of legal consequences or precision.  Due to the limitations of the application process – and the difficultly claimants have in fully explaining the cause of their termination – it is not uncommon to be denied an initial claim.

Enforcement of Mahr Provision In Islamic Marriage Contract Upheld

This is from religionclause.blogspot.com which you can find here:

In Seifeddine v. Jaber, (MI App., April 16, 2019), a Michigan state appellate court rejected a challenge to a trial court’s enforcement in a divorce action of the mahr provisions of an Islamic marriage certificate. The provision required the husband to pay $50,000 to his wife. According to the court:

[T]he trial court expressly and repeatedly stated that it was not applying religious principles or doctrines but was instead applying Michigan common law regarding contracts…. Plaintiff makes no argument challenging any particular element for establishing the existence of a contract. Nor does plaintiff cite any authority for his contention that a neutral principle of law must be derived from a statute rather than from Michigan common law when examining a religious document.

You can learn more about this issue here.

Yessource: Live in Orange Beach, 7/15/11

Here are my latest uploads to YesSource, my Yes rarities youtube page (about which you can read here).  This post is another addition to my series of Yes music posts and a collection of all my Yes-related posts is here.  Yes, of course, is a, if not the, premier progressive rock band, and I am an enormous fan of it.

You can see all of my Yessource uploads here.

My latest YesSource uploads can be found here:

• Yes Live: 7/15/11 – Orange Beach – Heart of the Sunrise
• Yes Live: 7/15/11 – Orange Beach – I’ve Seen All Good People
• Yes Live: 7/15/11 – Orange Beach – Overture (taped)
• Yes Live: 7/15/11 – Orange Beach – Owner of a Lonely Heart
• Yes Live: 7/15/11 – Orange Beach – Roundabout
• Yes Live: 7/15/11 – Orange Beach – Starship Trooper
• Yes Live: 7/15/11 – Orange Beach – Tempus Fugit
• Yes Live: 7/15/11 – Orange Beach – We Can Fly
• Yes Live: 7/15/11 – Orange Beach – Yours is no Disgrace
• Yes Live: 7/15/11 – Orange Beach – And You And I
• Yes Live: 7/15/11 – Orange Beach – Steve Howe Introduces Geoff Downes and Owner of a Lonely Heart

Family Law Tip: Bankruptcy and Family Law

I post some tips regarding family to my Linkedin page (see here) from time to time, and I thought I should start sharing them here too.  Below is one of my family law tips, and you can read my articles on family law here and other posts on family law here and all are cataloged here.

How My Husband’s Porn Fantasy Obsession Led Him To Be Disgusted With My Body

Six years ago, when I first met Tim*, everything seemed to be perfect. We clicked immediately and were married within a year of meeting. It seemed fast, but we loved all the same things, could talk about anything, and worked in similar jobs. I really thought I’d found my soul mate.

But six years later, last November, we split and Tim moved out. I filed for divorce in January, and it was official by June.

Everyone wanted to know why: Why weren’t we trying counseling first? Why didn’t we tell anyone we were having problems? Why couldn’t we work it out for our son? And, of course, why did we get divorced?

I can tell you in one word: porn.

It sounds ridiculous, but it’s the truth. The porn wasn’t just a part of some bigger problem, it was the problem.

I never took issue with porn, before…

I’ve never had a problem with porn or with people looking at it in their free time. When we were dating, Tim told me he started looking at it, like most boys, in his young teens. I didn’t worry too much about it, chalking it up to just a thing guys do. But then our sex life started to suffer. To be honest, it was never amazing. I thought that was from the stress of working, living with roommates, and planning a wedding, and figured once we settled down we’d work it out. Not so much. Sex always seemed like a lot more work for Tim than it should be, and the longer we were married, the less sex we were having.

At first, I wondered if Tim was suffering from depression, had a low libido, or might even be gay (even though he’d never shown any interest in men). But then I saw his open laptop one evening and read all the tabs he had open, and realized that he had an enormous sexual appetite—just not for me.

Instead of coming to bed with me, he was choosing to stay downstairs every evening with his laptop, watching porn. We were down to having sex maybe once every three months. And it definitely wasn’t good sex. So not wanting to be a nun in my own marriage, I finally confronted Tim about what I had found.

He couldn’t get aroused with me because I’m real

I told him it wasn’t the porn itself I was worried about, but that he preferred it to me, a living, breathing woman. Plus, we had talked about wanting to try getting pregnant, and that just wasn’t going to happen having sex every three months. Tim agreed it was an issue and then he said something that really shocked me: he was having a hard time being physically aroused by me.

I was young and kept myself healthy. I waxed, I wore deodorant, I dressed well. It didn’t make any sense! Then he told me that my body disgusted him. He said it didn’t react the way he thought it should, that I made weird noises, and that my bodily fluids grossed him out. He also mentioned that he wished I looked more like the porn stars, with bigger breasts, etc. Then he said he just couldn’t get hard, plain and simple, when he was with me.

It was the most devastating conversation of my life and I still cry when I think about it. Can you imagine having your body picked apart piece by piece like that and being told you’re not good enough? That the natural way your body responds to sex is wrong?

Still, Tim wanted to try to make our relationship work and because the rest of our life together was so good, I was willing to go along with that if he went to counseling. Things seemed to be getting better—we were having more sex—but I started to notice something.

Tim always wanted to reenact things he’d watched while asking me to dress or wax or talk like his favorite performers. And a lot of the things he wanted to try, positions or toys that seemed to work so well in porn, involved rough, violent sex that treated women in a very degrading way. Even then, it still took a lot of effort for him to climax. There was nothing fun about that sex for me, nothing. It was getting to the point that it was actually traumatic for me.

All this seemed to make him more sure that something was wrong with me, and I was starting to believe he might be right. My self-esteem was destroyed; I hated my body. But one good thing did come from it: I got pregnant.

The downward spiral, and the lies

Pregnancy was a massive turn-off for Tim, so we took a nine-month hiatus from sex. And I was okay with that. The rest of our life was good, our son was amazing, so I kind of gave up caring about sex for about two years. I knew he was downstairs with his laptop again, but I didn’t want to deal with that. It wasn’t perfect, but it was okay. Plus, Tim was still attending weekly sessions with the therapist.

Eventually, though, I decided I couldn’t live without sex for the rest of my life. So I made an attempt to initiate sex one night after our son was asleep, only to discover that Tim had been lying about seeing the therapist and he was more dependent on porn than ever. I felt so angry and betrayed. I packed up my things and the baby and went to stay with a relative.

A week later, Tim called, saying he was sorry, and asked to meet at a hotel to try and “work on things.”

“No laptop?” I asked.

“No laptop,” he promised.

So I left my son with a sitter, dressed up, and met Tim at the bar in the lobby. He said he wanted me back and was willing to get treatment for his porn addiction—for real this time. He listed all the good things we had together and I began to remember why I fell in love with him in the first place. After a few drinks, we headed up to the room. But as soon as I started trying to kiss him, he involuntarily shuddered and turned away.

I knew then it wasn’t ever going to work.

As a real woman, I didn’t fit into his porn perfection

Instead of learning to see me as a woman, he was still trying to fit me into his porn fantasies. But I wasn’t going to compromise my body and my wants anymore for his. I was done. I’d spent years being compared to completely unrealistic women, and I just couldn’t take it anymore.

I haven’t told many people the real reason for our split. I’m worried they’ll think I’m being dramatic or overreacting. And there’s a lot of shame. Part of me still thinks I did something wrong, that if I could have just been that fantasy for him, we’d still be together. It’s humiliating.

I’m not ready to talk about it with other women yet, but I do wonder how many other wives like me are out there, suffering and wondering how they’ll ever measure up to the pornographic ideal. I think there are a lot more of us than anyone knows.

–J.

*Names and identifying details have been changed

Betrayal isn’t uncommon, it’s the norm

There are definitely a lot more of these stories than anyone knows, and far too many. We receive countless emails and direct messages from significant others who have been betrayed by their partner’s porn habit. Unfortunately, this woman’s story is as common as it is heartbreaking.

Porn reshapes expectations about sex and attraction by presenting an unrealistic picture. In porn, men and women always look their best. They are forever young, surgically enhanced, airbrushed, and Photoshopped to perfection.  So it’s not hard to see why, according to a national poll, six out of seven women believe that porn has changed men’s expectations of how women should look.

As writer Naomi Wolf points out, “Today real naked women are just bad porn.”

While porn is something that both men and women struggle with, it seems that a large number of the messages we get are from girlfriends, wives, and female partners. We summed up the damaging effects of porn in a letter we wrote and released on social media:

Two of the most respected pornography researchers, Jennings Bryant and Dolf Zillman at the University of Alabama, studied the effects of porn and media for more than 30 years. They found that consuming pornography makes many individuals less satisfied with their own partners’ physical appearance, sexual performance, sexual curiosity, and affection.  They also found that, over time, many porn users grow more callous toward females in general, less likely to value monogamy and marriage, and more likely to develop distorted perceptions of sexuality. Other researchers have confirmed those results and added that porn consumers tend to be significantly less intimate with their partners, less committed in their relationships, less satisfied with their romantic and sex lives, and more likely to cheat on their partners.

In reality, there’s nothing sexier than authentic love built on trust, mutuality, and honesty. That’s what we’re fighting for.

Originally published on Fight the New Drug on September 12, 2018 and can be found here.