CAN AN EMPLOYEE WHO IS FIRED OR QUITS STILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION?
Yes. In Massachusetts, employees may be eligible for unemployment compensation if they do not voluntarily quit. So, unemployment benefits are available for employees who: (1) were terminated for performance reasons; (2) quit their job due to racial, gender or religious discrimination; or (3) quit their job because of domestic violence concerns. By way of illustration, an employee quit her job because she believed that her manager put her on an unreasonable performance improvement plan after she refused to date him. Under those circumstances, she was able to win unemployment compensation based on the legal principle of constructive discharge. Also, if an employee signs a severance agreement in which he/she waives the right to file a legal claim, unemployment benefits are usually available.
