If you are in school (post-secondary) in Minnesota and applying for unemployment, please look at the highlighted portion of this list from https://mn.gov/uimn/applicants/needtoknow/eligibility-requirements/ and then I have a tiny story that might help you make a decision on how you fill out the form...

In fall of 2010, I had just started library classes at MCTC. Then my restaurant (figlio R.I.P.) temporarily closed for renovation and rebranding to become Il Gatto (a mistake we workers all warned management against fwiw). So my coworkers and I filed for unemployment.

Everyone, save me and one other server, did not receive unemployment. She and I were both going to MCTC and so started comparing notes, as in WTGDF?!! We are just as TEMPORARILY unemployed as everyone else who is getting checks in the mail already. JFC. So we both appealed.

The appeal process was a bit arduous as I recall... but we were in the Great Recession and I had worked for the restaurant for 7 years at that point and sure af needed money coming in while they were TEMPORARILY closed. (I am stressing Temporarily for a reason...)

Once the appeal was processed, we then both had a meeting with an actual unemployment Judge over the phone. You have to raise your right and swear and the whole 9 yards. You are under oath. They do not fuck around.

That phone call will go down as one of the rudest interactions I've ever experienced on the phone with anyone, ever... and I used to work in a call center. And to this day I feel weird saying this because this was a gd Judge. I felt I didn't have the right to take issue with it.

It became clear that the employment Judge did this all day long. My coworker got a different Judge, btw, and ended up getting her unemployment benefits. But this is what I learned from my experience...

One of the first things she asked me was - so remember you are under oath - but it says on your MN unemployment application that you are in school and on the application you marked a box saying you are not willing to quit school to get a new job. Is that correct?

And I was like... well, may I explain - I HAVE a job and will be going back to work on This XYZ, 2010 date. I am temporarily out of work and am looking for benefits for the time I cannot work.

She responded: I don't care. Are you willing to quit school to get a new job?

So I was sweating at this point... and I was like, let me clarify - you are asking if I will quit school to get a new job though my current job at this point starts back up in about 2 weeks and I am hoping to get UI like all of my coworkers for the time we are closed... correct?

The unemployment Judge responded: what your coworkers received for this time period is irrelevant. Everyone is case by case. It doesn't matter if everyone you work with received benefits or not. Your application says you are unwilling to quit school to get a new job.

So I was like... Okaaay…. So you are saying that if I had marked the box that I was willing to quit school to get a new job, though I already have a job that is TEMPORARILY closed, I would have received unemployment benefits?

The unemployment judge responded: That is not guaranteed... but you marked the box saying you are not willing to quit school to take a new job. I'm asking you now, and remember you are under oath (she actually said that), are you willing to quit school to get a new job?

And again I said... I HAVE a job. We HAVE a start up date within the month. I am applying for benefits, like all my coworkers, for the time we are not open.
She said - so you're saying you don't need unemployment bc you have a job or because you are not willing to quit school?

I said - Okay - so what I am hearing you say is that if I had marked the box saying "I am willing to quit school to get a new job (even though I HAVE a job that is TEMPORARILY closed)" I would be more likely to get unemployment.
She was like: That is neither here nor there.

Mind you - at this point I was not only angry af, trying not to throw things at the wall based on how condescending she was to me, but also trying to be uber polite bc I had heard these Unemployment judges were very particular about how they perceived they were being treated.

So she again - Bottom line - doesn't matter at all what others at your workplace have received. Are you willing to quit school to get a job?

And then I wondered... is she coaching me to say yes... so I said... "May I say yes at this point?"

Big mistake...

The unemployment judge then said - So are you saying under oath now that you lied when you filled out the form originally & chose the box saying you were unwilling to quit school to get a job?
I was like JFC!!!! WTF?!!! (silently. I think I literally bit a chunk off my tongue.

So I said fuck it - I am fucked at this point. I'm just going to say the goddamn truth: NO! I AM NOT WILLING TO QUIT SCHOOL TO GET A JOB BECAUSE I HAVE A JOB THAT STARTS BACK UP IN A COUPLE WEEKS. NO - I AM NOT WILLING TO QUIT SCHOOL TO GET A DIFFERENT JOB FROM THE ONE I HAVE.

She was like - okay... so we'll review this and make a final judgement and let you know what if anything changes in your ability to receive benefits for the amount of time you are out of work.

And was like Okay Bye.

Dear Reader - I did NOT receive unemployment benefits for a temporary job closing though all my coworkers did including another coworker also in school who told her appeal judge that she was also not willing to quit school to get a job. Her judge was nice. Mine was not.

So I hope this story gets in the feeds of people who are in school right now and who are temporarily - or permanently - unemployed by covid-19. I am not offering legal advice... I am just offering my experience....

And my experience was... I did not receive unemployment benefits during a TEMPORARY restaurant closing in the Great Recession, 2010, because I marked a box saying truthfully, that I was not willing to quit school to take a different job.

There is more. I also explained to the judge that I was in school so I could become more unemployable (tips were shit during the recession, and tho I had active MN HS English teaching degree, I was making a career lane change into library work). She said that it was irrelevant.

I even pushed back on that with her, asking if it was better I and others quit school in an attempt to become more employable and just take any job that came along - and she was like - yes - that is your choice - either work or go to school.

So one take away: regardless of how you fill out the unemployment application initially, and regardless of the scenario, it is worth it to appeal if you get rejected benefits, because you may get a nice judge (not mine)… but the chance is there.

And I could have appealed again. In fact I remember starting that process, but by then I was back to work at the restaurant AND in school and I did not have the time or energy to push it any further. Hence - I used my school loan money to eat and pay rent first vs other supplies.