In my sleep deprived state, I misread Superior Court and not Supreme. So yes FLYINGRON, you are correct, it was Superior and NOT supreme.
Because of my limited experience with unemployment, appeals and 1099 employment, this is where the majority of my questions come into play.
I am confused myself because I am uncertain of the process. There is a substantial amount of information about how unemployment works but not in my specific situation. I was under the impression that the initial claim should not have been denied BECAUSE of the misclassification. I mentioned that my termination occurred while I was a 1099. The determination that I was actually an employee took place during the Field Audit conducted by the DOL in determining my unemployment eligibility.
Had I not had a workers comp lawyer working on a case for an injury from another job where I was injured in 2013, I would have never know of the misclassification at all. He is strictly workers comp, NOT labor relations, or I would defer to him for questions.
To provide more clarification, here is a timeline. Again, as I mentioned, I know all of the facts in my head, and in an effort to try and maintain discretion, I have tried to keep it simple.
2012 - hired as 1099 employee by a CPA initial hours set by employer
2013 - family member had major surgery, requested later start time to do morning care for said family member, employer agreed to later start time. Mid 2013 injured at second job, had physical therapy and doctors appts that overlapped with this 1099 job, also advised employer of this. He even had to write a letter to WC carrier to cover hours that were missed for appts, stated I was a 1099 employee.
2014, advised employer of sharing vehicle with another, always kept him in the loop about in and out times if they did not fall in line with what we discussed/he requested.
Week prior to termination, provided a timesheet that included a day that I actually missed due to illness, complete with doctors note, but he rushed me to provide it so I copied the previous week and did not omit the day I missed. The next day, he advised me he reviewed the timesheet and accused me of being dishonest (given his recent and upcoming regulatory authority audits, I find that statement ironic and hypocritical) The following week, I was terminated.
Week after termination, WC lawyer reached out to ask why I was a 1099 and if employer could change it to a W2. I advised him of termination and told him that may not be possible. He suggested applying for unemployment to have them determine my true status.
Had initial call with UI representative. She took my information, citing that the employer, in his statement to UI, claimed that I was tardy a "handful of times", and that I was also ineligible due to 1099 status. This triggered a Field Audit to make that determination.
At the same time, I also filed with Wage and Hour division for unpaid hours. They also were reviewing my 1099 status.
Received a second call from UI rep who received a letter from employer, changing his initial statement of tardiness "a handful of times" to including the building security entrance times, as he did not have ANY records reflecting my hours worked, dates I was tardy, dates he "claimed" to have verbally warned me, nothing specific to when I actually worked there. The denial letter said I could appeal. Part of it was confusing the dates with medical appointments and part of it was that everything else I had encountered was business days, not calendar days. Add in high doses of strong pain meds and valium combined with very little, if any most nights, sleep, and the confusion occurred. I should have been more thorough. I usually am.
At the same time, both Wage and Hour and the Field Audit determined me to be an actual employee/W2 and NOT a 1099. So my employee determination status was made AFTER termination.
When I realized that my appeal date had come and gone, by 2 days, I submitted the appeal online immediately. This is when I received notice of the appeal hearing. During the appeal hearing, the referee stated there were two items to be addressed. One was if I had just cause for filing late and the other was to determine if the employer had just cause for denying unemployment benefits after the termination. The employer answered the referees questions, but could not cite specific dates for verbal or written warnings. He in fact stated that the last warning I received was the day I was terminated, which wasnt true, I was called into his office and let go, so he couldn't even recall the events due to insufficient records. I mentioned that I was a 1099 found to be a W2 employee at the end of the call. I provided copies of medical information to the referee regarding emergency room visits, doctors visits etc, so I did have substantial documentation.
I received a follow up letter from the referee stating I had just cause in filing late and also that the employer condoned my tardiness, as it had occurred several times more than he originally stated and he did not have records of anything reflecting my hours. In one of the last sentences, this referee mentioned the misclassification. The denial was reversed and benefits awarded.
Of course, he appealed, citing Section 31-236-28, 31-236-26a and 31-236-26b. The ironic thing, in his fifth paragraph, in citing 31-236-26a, he says at time the EMPLOYEE committed the act, when he had terminated me as a 1099.
The Board of Review claimed that I did not have sufficient reasoning for filing the claim late and they reversed the referee's decision and also wrote "The claimant's appeal to the referee is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction." How is that possible? How can the referee have lack of jurisdiction?
I then received a second letter stating that they reviewed the tape from the hearing, which why they didn't do so in the first place is beyond me. The reasoning was the same, but the jurisdiction thing is baffling to me. But in NEITHER of the letters that the Board of Review sent did they mention anything about the misclassification.
My thought is to motion the Board of Review to reopen/modify this verdict, if you will. The Board only reviewed his appeal, but none of the reasoning he cited was even included. It all had to do with the timing of my submission. My thought is that I shouldn't have been denied to begin with BECAUSE of the misclassification. And the fact that when Wage and Hour completed their review and determined that the employer had no records whatsoever, he had to pay me for the hours I kept track of and he didn't. And those were the ones I had hard copy of, the others were on a flash drive that got misplaced. The employer sent me a W2 for the back wages, but a 1099 for the other wages for 2014. Ironically, the unpaid wages cover 2013 AND 2014, so the fact that he gave the W2 kind of puts him in the hot seat with the IRS and CT DRS, hence the IRS SS8 and 8919 forms and amended returns I will be providing.
Please don't be mistaken, I am a workaholic, and have for the majority of my working life, worked more than one job because I'd rather work hard now and not have to when I am of retirement age. I am a second generation military brat and laziness was not something we ever practiced. I don't want to be one of those folks who sits and collects money for not doing anything. While I am typing this, I am also coordinating appointments, scanning all of the documents in to have them optically stored and a few other tasks. I am not lazy and looking for a payday by any means. Yes, I do have a medical issue, which if the doctor could identify the issue correctly (totally different frustrating story), I would not be having the issues 133 days later since the initial onset. I just don't want this employer to get away with doing something that as a CPA he should've know NOT to do in the first place. Adding it up, he would've had to pay so little in taxes, FICA etc and I was part time in a very small office so no benefits would've been required, so I really don't understand why he felt it was alright to misclassify me. It's a pain to have to refile my taxes, submit additional documents and waste time.
I'm hoping this is a little clearer, and I do apologize for Supreme vs Superior. I just watched this man mismanage retirement plans (separate issue, but goes to relevance of character) and get away with it, I don't want to see him get away with this too which is why I am willing to do whatever is needed to ensure he can not continue to get away with it.

