u/Saabify

I was an Amazon DSP driver for 3 years until I was fired back in April for making an "unscheduled stop" after my route. I stopped at a gas station to use the rest room. My claim was denied, and a telephone hearing was scheduled for August 10. An hour before my hearing, I received an automated call stating that my hearing had been canceled. I called and spoke with someone at UIA who told me that my former employer had called to reschedule because the HR rep was on maternity leave and would be rescheduled shortly. She's in her 60s! Yesterday I received a letter stating that my hearing had been canceled by the Appeals Commission due to an application they received on the matter under R 792.11425(6). From what I can tell, my former employer is requesting transfer of my case to a higher court, and that this could take months? At this point I've burned through my savings, I just received a notice to quit from my landlord, and I've had no luck finding suitable employment.

My case should have been open/shut. I have GPS records from my personal phone and the Amazon van showing that I was only at the gas station for 18 minutes as opposed to the 26 claimed in my termination letter, I have excerpts from the employee handbook stating that restroom breaks do not need to be authorized or logged as regular breaks, and signed affidavits from 2 employees stating that I was back at the Amazon station during the time they claim I was still at the gas station, and another affidavit from a former dispatcher stating that my actions that night were normal for every driver and Amazon's tracking software is often inaccurate. I sent all this to my former employer a few days before my hearing as required, now I'm thinking they realized I was going to win and they're fighting dirty somehow. In reality, I believe I was fired for getting into an argument with the DSP owner over what I considered unsafe demands and that he's doing all this to retaliate. Anyone have experience with this? I tried calling the unemployment advocate's office and they told me they can't help me until a new hearing is scheduled. I waited nearly 3 months for the first hearing to get scheduled, I'll be living on the streets if I have to wait that long again. I'll post the letter I received in the comments.

I was a delivery driver for an Amazon DSP for 3 years until I was fired in April. They claimed in my termination letter that I made 2 unplanned stop on my drive back after my route, including 32 minutes at a gas station. They claimed I had committed time card fraud, and UIA denied my claim on the grounds that I misused company time. In reality, I only made one stop, and that was at a gas station to fuel up and use the bathroom. They claim I was at the gas station for 24 minutes, but according to my own Google Maps timeline and Galaxy watch, I was only there for 18 minutes. I didn't use any of my paid 15 minute breaks during the day, so I could have used one while I was in the bathroom, but I didn't think it was necessary.

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Anyway, I sent shots of my Google Maps timeline for my appeal and gave a thorough accounting of my drive back, explaining all the tasks I was required to do before punching out to prove I wasn't misusing my time, but they denied it again and now I'm waiting for a telephone hearing to be scheduled. I 100% did not waste any company time, I had 2 paid breaks I could have used if I wanted to do that. I had to contact driver support twice, and there were other work-related issues that came up that were documented on their end. My question is, how do I prove that I was doing my job properly? I feel like the person who did my appeal didn't even look at the information I sent them and just sided with the employer. I've never done this before.

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More info: on the day in question, the Amazon warehouse was 2 hours late getting our packages ready to start our route, so there were a lot of drivers that couldn't complete their route in time and had to bring packages back to the station. I was able to finish my route, mostly because I didn't take any breaks, but I still had to wait in line behind all these other drivers when I returned to the station, adding 20-30 minutes to my return trip. In my termination letter, it said I took 1 hour and 10 minutes from my last stop to when I punched out and it should have only taken 32 minutes. My last stop was 32 minutes from the station, but that's super misleading since it ignores the time it takes to get gas, clean and inspect the van, call driver support, wait at the station behind other drivers, etc.