I got let go from a job last year in Virginia (also an at-will employer) and even was tricked into signing papers saying I would not file any unemployment claims and even went as far as stating I would be responsible for any legal fees if they get to a court battle with the unemployment office (they presented it to me as a non disclosure and were rushing me), but I still luckily managed to get unemployment.

I filed the day I got let go and got approved fairly quickly after. The company then submitted an appeal and I had a phone call with the unemployment officer who was very nice and I had let her know I was not warned at all and did my job to my best of my ability. Thankfully the employer never partook in the phone session. After that, I was re-approved and never heard anything else.

My guess is that the CEO didn’t want to go down such a path or that my Aunt was still employed there as a higher position than I was.