My wife was fired recently without warning. She has filed for unemployment and had an initial interview with the unemployment office today. They claim that her former employer told them that she was "not doing her job" but I have never heard anything from her regarding performance issues. They also claimed that they "talked to her about her performance" and she claims that they never made any attempt to correct her performance and was unaware that they were unhappy with her.
What does this mean for her eligibility for unemployment? Is there any recourse?
Many times employers will do this. And she will need to appeal it. I think the limit is three and then they give it to you. But I am not a lawyer. Luckily our unemployment is low here and hopefully she'll find something better.
Is the appeal process literally just resubmitting the application multiple times?
Would it be helpful to reach out to her former manager and ask why/if they made those statements or is it just best to keep our heads down and hope the appeal works?
More specifically, her former employer will end up with additional expenses if she gets unemployment because it's a form of insurance - paid claims result in increased premiums, basically. So they'll actively work to avoid her claim being paid.
That does not change the legitimacy of her claim, nor mean she shouldn't/can't appeal. YMMV by state, of course.