First of all, we're in Georgia. My wife left her workplace a couple of weeks ago, after a work-related dispute over a task between her boss and her. She has been with this employers for several years. She filed for unemployment immediately. Her boss however claimed she quit, and we got a letter saying she was considered unqualified for unemployment from the GA DOL. We're now considering appealing. My question is: is there a point to appealing? Are such cases generally decided in favor of the employee or the employee by DOL?
More details: My wife had asked for a raise this year after three years of no raises and it had triggered bad feelings. Boss became hyper critical of everything she did. A coworker noted they didn't know how she was still there since he'd (the boss) had been so critical for the last year.
My wife was forty minutes late but had warned co-workers that she had a doctor's appointment so no one was worried. She clocked in and was immediately criticized for sloppy paper management, something he was notorious for himself and for which there had never been any kind of plan in the first place. She decided to go outside and calm down. The boss told her to pick up her check on Friday. She said, “I'm outta here, booboo.” and clocked out and went outside to cool off. Boss followed her out and asked for her door keys.
This is a small family-owned business and the couple that runs it have NEVER paid unemployment insurance even though there have been several firings. We're pretty sure that's why they're saying my wife quit. It's a very he-said she-said thing, though.
Hoping I can get some info on how to proceed with an appeal that will succeed.