Don’t Play the Blame Game in Unemployment Proceedings

Workers involved in Wisconsin unemployment proceedings are often tempted to play the “blame game.”

Human instinct may tell you that it’s important to tell the unemployment interviewer or judge your opinions about what the employer did wrong.  For example, say a worker was fired because the employer said the worker was “falsifying formwork,” and the employer is challenging unemployment, claiming the worker was fired for misconduct.

If the worker is playing the “blame game,” the worker may tell the unemployment representative these types of opinions/blame-statements:

• The employer was at fault for not training the worker how to properly complete the formwork
• The employer was at fault for not investigating the situation properly before flying off the handle and firing the worker
• The employer was at fault for not firing other people who did the same thing (or worse) with formwork
• The employer/manager/etc. do much worse things themselves — they set the building on fire, etc.

Okay, I’m exaggerating, but I hope you see the point.  Playing the blame game looks bad.

While there are times in an unemployment proceeding that a worker may be asked for FACTUAL information about what the employer did wrong– e.g. an administrative judge could ask a question like  “Did the employer train you how to complete that type of formwork?”, to which a worker could respond  “No,” if that’s the truth– this is a very different scenario than the worker being given an open-floor to rattle off instances where the employer dropped the ball.

It’s understandable that, if you’ve been fired or had your unemployment challenged for reasons that seem unfair, you FEEL the employer is to blame. But if you SPEAK to an unemployment representative from that mindset, i.e. if you’re playing the blame game, that is usually a losing game for workers in unemployment proceedings.

Please note this post does not provide legal advice- if you want legal advice, you must talk to an attorney about your specific situation. If you are interested in legal assistance from attorney-author Michael Brown or his law firm DVG Law Partner for your Wisconsin unemployment matter, please contact us here: