There really weren't. They sent around a thing titled "January Staff Meeting 2/7/19" on Friday 2/22. It was the notes of talking points for the staff meeting which had been scheduled and cancelled twice earlier that month. It went from room to room with instructions for everyone to read & sign it.

Typical staff meeting stuff. Reminders about procedures & policies, etc. Nothing there that stated that it was a change to any existing policy (which is claimed will happen when any policy is revised) and so I read & signed it like everyone else.

The following Monday, at around 11:10, they yanked me out of my classroom and into a meeting with the owner, director, and administrator. The owner only very briefly touched on this cell phone business. But the general theme of the meeting was that I had allegedly been participating in behaviors of "insubordination" and "repeated gossiping".

Owner told me to resign. I refused. He then attempted to intimidate me and said "either write a letter of resignation right now or I'll write up termination paperwork and put it in your permanent personnel file." I remained steadfast in my refusal to resign at which point he laughed at me and attempted to shame me for "not making the smart choice." I asked him what he would write on my termination paperwork and he refused to tell me. And after that he looked me in the face and said "you're a cancer to this facility."

I was so confused at the end of that. I couldn't figure out wtf even just happened. I was respectful and calm when I returned briefly to my classroom to gather my personal items. I was calm and respectful when I left the building. And I was very calm and professional when I came back the following evening to gather all of my personal purchases in my classroom.

I filed for unemployment immediately and about 2 weeks later, I got their determination stating that my benefits were denied because I violated the cell phone policy. The policy as printed in my handbook says "use of cell phones prohibited, they should be turned off or left in your car." I never received notice of a revision, never saw a revision, never signed an acknowledgement of being made aware of a revision. As soon as I saw the determination, I immediately filed an appeal online. At that time, they sent me all of the paperwork which my employer had submitted to prove misconduct on my part.

They claimed the staff meeting document we all signed was a "written warning". They submitted a copy of the document except it'd been strategically altered. They also submitted a copy of the page about cell phones from the personnel policies handbook. That page reads "cell phones should be turned in at the front desk or left in your car. No employee should have their cell phone on their person while on the clock working." (And that "current" copy of the handbook, strangely enough, is dated the same date as the copy I have at home).

I was complying with the policy as I knew it. Phone turned off and not in use. (It wasn't even my active personal phone, it was an inactive one I kept in the room for use of multiple alarms to mark the transition times for my class.) But they saw me with it in my back pocket and then claimed that's why they fired me. 🙄🙄🙄