Jodi is a therapist whose job is the main source of income for her household. Her son has a disability, and her wife is his primary caregiver. When her job let her go without any explanation, she didn’t panic, but she knew she needed to apply for unemployment benefits right away to stay afloat.

Shortly after applying, she heard back from Workforce West Virginia (Workforce WV); she would not receive any benefits because her job reported she was terminated for gross misconduct.

Jodi was shocked.

“I was in a really bad situation,” Jodi explains. “I knew about Legal Aid through the community. I’d referred some clients in the past to them, so I applied. I actually thought going in that I might not be eligible or they might not be able to help. I thought I would roll the dice, and surprisingly, they said absolutely.”

Jodi was assigned a Legal Aid attorney who immediately sent her instructions on how to get an appeal started with Workforce WV, since their appeal window is fairly small, then they set up a meeting.

“Our first meeting was on the phone, and I was still a mess, but he calmed me down. He said, ‘I know this is big. Why don’t we meet in person?’ I think that first meeting was two hours, and he listened to everything. He always returned my calls and emails and was supportive through the whole process.”

Jodi won her first appeal to Workforce WV, meaning they would grant her unemployment benefits. Her employer then appealed that decision, so they went through the process again.

Ultimately, Workforce WV found there was no evidence of misconduct, and Jodi got full unemployment benefits based on the date she was fired.

“In retrospect, I don’t think it had anything to do with me. They did not have any real evidence, and I guess they decided to dig their heels in on their claim,” Jodi says. “Now I’m doing contract work out of the corporate world. I hate the way it happened, but I think maybe it did happen for a reason because I’m so much happier and my schedule is more flexible.”

With her new position, Jodi no longer needs unemployment, but the income during her transition was invaluable—alongside the support.

“I probably would have done the initial appeal just because of how strongly I felt about their decision. That said, I don’t know if that would have gone very well,” Jodi says. “Legal Aid is a great resource for the community and maybe one that people don’t know about as much as they should. To get that extra legal help when you don’t have the ability to financially afford it was a huge deal for me and my family.”