I fired someone for the right reason but they are still appealing for unemployment insurance - advice needed?

Question

I fired Tammy for several reasons, she had no respect for me or her coworkers and she blew up at one of our best employees, Sue, when Sue was only trying to help her. Tammy swore at Sue and strormed off angry. I confronted Tammy about her behavior and told her it was not okay with me for her to act like this, she did not want to say sorry or try to work on getting along with Sue. I told her she needs to try and for the next month I observed her behavior and no improvement, I then fired her for misconduct and disrespectful behavior. I didn't know that she had filed an annomyous complaint about or resturant until after I fired her, and now she is saying that I "knew" it was her and she was fired for whistleblowing, I didn't know it was her, the inspector dropped the complaint since we were not in violation and I didn't really care who filed it. Tammy was fired because of how she behaved at work, what should I do?

Answer 1

If she filed an anonymous complaint, how could you have known it was her? She can say anything she wants, but she has no proof. But. she has  every right to request an appeal.

Hopefully, you have written documentation of the warning and what the consequences would be if the behavior did not improve or continued. This should be enough to close the appeal in your favor.

Answer 2

Unless you have written documentation that shows that you discussed her behavior with her and the consequences, you may be out of luck! If you have any employee manual that addresses inappropriate language etc. that may help you win the appeal.  

It is not that uncommon for someone to appeal unemployment decisions. The employee will win unless the employer kept very good written records.  

The issue with the complaint sounds like a separate matter.  

Answer 3

With the appeal, you get to defend your firing.  Tell them, it was just fireing, not unjust, and  she was ill mannered and disrespectful.  You'll probably win.

Answer 4

Stick to your guns about firing her based on behavior including cussing at another employee. If your wrote her up and can provide proof of the it then you stand even a better chance.