My question involves unemployment benefits for the state of: California.

Greetings,

I was terminated approximately two and a half months ago from my job. I was told at the time that I was being terminated for job performance. I had been with the company for almost three months when I was terminated.

During my tenure there, I received continuous feedback for my job performance, both positive and negative. My training period was extended due to not grasping my job functions. It was actually extended by two weeks, though they are claiming it was extended by three. My job required being an expert in a field that I was unfamiliar with, and despite spending a large amount of time trying to get processes down (I was a salaried employee and was working around 60 hours a week), they felt that I was not up to par for their standards. If that was the case, it was definitely not through neglect. I did try very hard to do my job well, and became overwhelmed with the amount of feedback and training. It was hard to keep everything straight.

The company is saying that I "neglected" to perform my job duties. They had initially told EDD exactly what I told them...that I was separated for job performance, which is why my benefits were approved. I did not intentionally perform below standards. I feel that perhaps I was just overstressed and perhaps not intelligent enough to perform my job well.

In addition to that, I was under a lot of emotional distress as my mother had passed away unexpectedly earlier in the year. My immediate supervisor and his supervisor were both aware of this, and I had even let my supervisor know that I was undergoing grief counseling to help me through this. I was incredibly depressed.

I suppose that my question is whether or not my former employer actually has a case for me neglecting my job duties. Nothing that I did or did not do would cause anybody to be harmed, or intentionally cause the company to lose assets.

Any help would be appreciated. I am not 100% sure what evidence I should bring to the hearing, and whether I can sleep at night knowing that I might have to pay back the bulk of my unemployment benefits.

Thanks!