EDD interview
I got off the phone with the EDD interview guy (Ben) a few minutes ago. Here's a summary of my recollection of the interview.
1. verified that I was let go on Friday May 21.
1b. asked what my salary was at the time I was let go
2. Asked who informed me - Martin
3. How did he inform me? - in person
4. What reasons did he give? - he felt that I wasn't a good fit with the company at this time and that the work I was doing wasn't what the company needed right now.
5. Asked for more specifics on that: what did he mean by not a good fit and not needed? - I started by mentioning that I never really followed Martin's explanations and thought processes, so I couldn't be sure. I stipulated that the following was only my speculation and impression of what might possibly have been behind it, and then went on to say that the company had recently changed direction and I thought that Martin perhaps meant that he needed someone more qualified to branch out in the new direction. Or something to that effect; I can't remember exactly how I worded it.
6. Did I have any prior warning that this was an issue? - None, and I went on to say that I'd had a meeting four days prior in which I was told I did have job security and that my performance in lab was good.
7. Who said this? - Martin
This ended his questions for the interview. I asked to add something - namely that at my exit/severence meeting, I specifically asked Brian what the conditions were for my termination, laid off or fired, and that he said laid off. Ben reiterated the definition of laying off - that it was when the company didn't have work for you to do and they were letting you go to save money. He said it sounded to him that it was more of a "separation". Unfortunately, I didn't get an exact definition of that term from him; I instead took the time to explain that I didn't really know much about the various categories and definitions; that I had simply asked the president which of the two categories I fell into and that he'd said laid-off.
Ben went on to say what would happen next. I would be contacted again if they needed any further info from me after the employer info, but he didn't think it would be necessary. More likely, I would simply know when informed of the ruling. If it's in my favor and I'm granted unemployment, I will find out only when they send me the first check. If it is not in my favor, I find find out when getting a letter of notice to that effect, along with an application for appeal, if I wish to do so. He couldn't give a time frame on how long it would take to find out one way or the other, as it depended on when he was able to talk to Brian. He specifically mentioned Brian, so at least I know he was contacting him. I'm not sure if he was going to contact him after me, or if he had already called and not gotten him. I got the vague impression that it might be the latter; he said something about a voicemail and page. I also got the impression that he wanted to get detailed info from Brian - which isn't going to go over well with Brian, Mr. I Won't Give You Any Information. But whatever. As long as he specifies that I wasn't fired.
Ben, at least, was a bit mrore friendly than the other people I've dealt with at EDD previously. It wasn't like he was going out of his way to make me feel comfortable or anything like that, but at least he wasn't spouting off about my getting in trouble and being charged and penalized. He seemed... neutral, I suppose, which was a nice change and good enough for me. But who knows... it's hard to really tell what someone is thinking over the phone in just a few minutes. I'll have to wait and see what happens with the ruling, to find out what his impression of me and my situation were.