Dedicated workers with high productivity at work, reached a point of being fired or classified by the employer as "one step before firing from work", because of their low productivity due to their severe Tinnitus, Vertigo, Dizziness or Meniere's Disease. In the current worldwide economic crisis, every empty position at work is taken immediately by another worker.

I interviewed Dr. Zecharya Shemesh from The "Hadassah" Hospital, Jerusalem, about his experience with patients who suffered from "work separation", or were at risk of being fired from work. I assumed that after 29 years of treating Tinnitus, Vertigo, Dizziness or Meniere's Disease sufferers from Israel and many over sea countries, he is very experienced with the sad outcomes of those medical conditions.

Illustrative case:

Mrs. Rivka Halio (real name) worked in the computation unit of The Israeli Police, Traffic department, when she experienced her first attack of vertigo. "The floor disappeared", "the floor was not there", are the statements that she used to describe how she felt. Mrs. Halio agreed to be videotaped for the sake of other Tinnitus and Vertigo sufferers and reveal her real name (see: http://www.en.tinnitus-vertigo-clinic.com/html/patients_telling.html), but she was very excited in front of the camera and her story came out slightly unclear. We did not edit the video-clip, but here, in this article we emphasize the point of being fired from work.

The police officer in charge of Mrs. Halio, helped her a lot. She remembered "all the good years" of Rivka who was productive, efficient, responsible, faithful and good- tempered worker.

When the full clinical picture of the Meniere's Disease developed, the Chief Police doctor asked Mrs. Halio's commander to fire her from work, because the Text-Book of Otolaryngology claims that there is no cure for that medical condition.

Rivka decided to fight, and remained in her position at work. Her success relied upon the good recommendation and the help from the officer in charge of her and the other police workers.

*** Advice for Tinnitus, Vertigo, Dizziness or Meniere's Disease sufferers: have a legal consultation before you loose your job, but do not threaten the employer with legal claims. Instead, make an effort to show the employer that basically you are a good worker who has a temporary medical problem. Look for evidence that Tinnitus, Vertigo, Dizziness or Meniere's Disease can be cured ***

A threshold requirement that every sufferer of severe Tinnitus, Vertigo, Dizziness or Meniere's Disease must meet before drawing unemployment benefits is to show that they are not out of work through no fault of their own. This fundamental requirement is also known as the "work separation" issue. The qualification issue depends upon why the sufferer of Tinnitus, Vertigo, Dizziness or Meniere's Disease came to be separated from the last work. That last work separation could have been from regular employment, from independent contractor work, or even from casual work for a private individual. What the legal authorities may asks is whether it was the patient's fault that the last work came to an end when it did. As such, the emphasis is always on the cause or incident that precipitated the work separation. In a discharge case, that will be the final incident, the incident but for which the work separation would not have occurred at the time it did. In a voluntary leaving case, the focus will be on the final problem that caused the patient to decide that leaving would be better than staying.

The focus of court may be on separation determinations, the burden of proof is on the party who initiates the work separation: If the Tinnitus, Vertigo, Dizziness or Meniere's Disease sufferer quit, the patient must prove good cause connected with the work for quitting; if the patient was fired or laid off, the employer must prove that the work separation resulted from misconduct connected with the work on the claimant's part.

The employer claims against the Tinnitus, Vertigo, Dizziness or Meniere's Disease sufferer may include the following primary disqualification categories:
(1) Discharge for misconduct connected with the work
(2) Voluntary quit for personal reasons
(3) Refusal of suitable work without good cause
(4) Work stoppage resulting from participation in a labor dispute
(5) Receipt of wages in lieu of notice, workers' compensation, or retirement pension

The best advise to the sufferer who wants to avoid firing from work is to check if the employer did one of the most common mistakes employers make, that cause difficulty in unemployment claims based upon a discharge:
(1) Failing to give a final warning prior to discharge;
(2) Inconsistent discipline between two similarly-situated employees;
(3) Failing to follow the stated disciplinary policy;
(4) Telling the court that the claimant was fired for an "accumulation" of incidents, instead of a specific final incident;
(5) Letting too much time pass between the final incident and the discharge;
(6) Telling the court that the claimant was "unable" to satisfy performance standards;
(7) Allowing the impression that the discharge was really based upon a personality dispute; and
(8) Failing to present firsthand witnesses and proper documentation when needed.

A terminology that may show that your employer is hostile or manipulative:
(1) Inability: as in "we fired the claimant for inability to do the job", "the claimant was incompetent", "the claimant never performed the work satisfactorily", "he seemed unable to grasp the job", or "she was unable to follow our rules". Inability by itself is not misconduct. The employer must show that the claimant was failing to do his or her best.
(2) Accumulation: as in "we fired the claimant for an accumulation of things". The "shotgun approach" almost never works.
(3) Mutual agreement: as in "she left by mutual agreement". Most courts may trust the employees about Mutual agreement, when they use the term "discharge". If the claimant had no choice but to leave when she did, she was discharged, and the company needs to prove misconduct.
(4) Disloyalty: Stating that the patient was fired for "disloyalty", without giving specifics, is a symptom that the discharge simply resulted from hurt feelings or a personality dispute. You should demand from the employer to be more specific than that.
(5) Poor attitude: It's not misconduct to fail to be happy at work. The employer should show how the the Tinnitus, Vertigo, Dizziness or Meniere's Disease sufferer was failing to get along with coworkers or customers, how that was affecting her performance and the performance of others, and how her actions were within her power to control. You should demand from the employer to be more specific than that.

Common sentences that may show that your employer is hostile or manipulative:
· "We asked for the Tinnitus, Vertigo, Dizziness or Meniere's Disease sufferer resignation."
· "We told the Tinnitus, Vertigo, Dizziness or Meniere's Disease sufferer to resign."
· "We wanted the Tinnitus, Vertigo, Dizziness or Meniere's Disease sufferer to resign."
· "We were glad the Tinnitus, Vertigo, Dizziness or Meniere's Disease sufferer resigned."
· "We were relieved when the Tinnitus, Vertigo, Dizziness or Meniere's Disease sufferer resigned."
· "The Tinnitus, Vertigo, Dizziness or Meniere's Disease sufferer resignation saved us the trouble of firing her."
· "She quit, but I would have fired her a dozen times if I'd had the chance!".

Common words against you, of employer who is hostile or manipulative:
* Lazy
** Shiftless
*** Good-for-nothing
**** Freeloader / Freeloading
***** Bum
****** Deadbeat
******* Parasite / Parasitic

Medical Separations
There are several ways in which the medical condition of the claimant who is suffering from severe Tinnitus, Vertigo, Dizziness or Meniere's Disease can be an issue in an unemployment claim. For instance, eligibility rules require claimants to be medically able to work in some field for which they are qualified either by training or experience. Thus, claimants who are too incapacitated to work may not draw unemployment benefits. If a claimant's work separation was the result of a medically-verifiable condition on the claimant's part, the claimant may not be disqualified, since the medical condition was presumably beyond the claimant's power to control. If the employer named as the last employing unit on such an initial claim was a base period employer, and if the employer was a private taxed employer, it may be eligible for charge back protection under such circumstances.
In the case of job offers, if a claimant declines an offer of work because such work would be impossible or inadvisable from a medical standpoint, the claimant will not be subject to disqualification for having refused suitable work. Finally, if a claimant was fired for failure to submit medical documentation, an employer may be able to win the unemployment case if the requirement for submission of the documentation was in keeping with a statute or regulation or else arose from a legitimate policy of which the claimant was aware.

Do not forget your: Workers' Compensation Benefits
A Tinnitus, Vertigo, Dizziness or Meniere's Disease sufferer claimant cannot draw workers' compensation and unemployment compensation at the same time, except during the claimant's receipt of impairment income benefits. However, if a claimant has such a disability, there could be an issue of whether the claimant is ineligible for benefits based upon medical inability to work, and the employer should not hesitate to raise the issue.

Remember your: Pension or Retirement Payment
If the Tinnitus, Vertigo, Dizziness or Meniere's Disease sufferer claimant is receiving a pension or retirement payment based in part upon wages earned during the base period of the claim, there is a dollar-for-dollar decrease in the insurance benefits that would otherwise be payable.

Conclusions for a Tinnitus, Vertigo, Dizziness or Meniere's Disease sufferer:

1. Keep a copy of this article, just in case that you will have conflicts with your employer.
2. Consult a qualified lawyer in the early stages of the conflict, but leave your lawyer behind you.
3. Collect records of all types, including medical records.
4. If you have friends who can help you and talk to your employer, ask them for help.
5. In a case of "no hope", remember your legal rights as employee.
6. Above all: do your best to find effective medical treatment for your Tinnitus, Vertigo, Dizziness or Meniere's Disease.