Meet Little Miss Conduct
And welcome to my new substack, Curb Misconduct
I’m Julie Huang. I used to be the person who showed up to unemployment hearings on behalf of the City, sat beside the witnesses (aka supervisors), handled direct and cross examinations, and gave closing remarks before an administrative law judge to explain why a former City employee didn’t qualify for unemployment insurance.
I’ve handled over a thousand cases, been in front of ALJs more than 260 times, and when my boss wanted to appeal a loss, I wrote the letter. I know how these cases fall apart - and how they could’ve been avoided.
Some people collect stamps or stickers. I collect misconduct stories.
So I created Little Miss Conduct - a character who doesn’t sugarcoat, doesn’t do corporate spin, and definitely doesn’t hand out gold stars for policies that make no sense.
Little Miss Conduct shows up here and on social media to promote my new Substack, Curb Misconduct, where she breaks down real cases (unrelated to NYC government) in her no-nonsense voice to show you what went wrong - and how employers can do better next time. Here’s the first post.
NYS Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board Case No. 636381
The Wings That Weren’t Worth It
A dishwasher at a supermarket eats a few chicken wings from the hot bar. He tells his supervisor immediately and offers to pay. The supervisor shrugs and says, “Don’t worry about it - just don’t do it again.”
Weeks later, it comes up in a separate meeting. Suddenly there’s an investigation, a written statement, and a termination for theft.
The Appeal Board didn’t agree with the company’s decision.
Why?
Because that supervisor response counted as discipline. Under unemployment law, an employer can’t take action twice for the same incident. One incident - one consequence. No rewrites later.
The disqualification was reversed. The employee got benefits.
What the Employer Could’ve Done Instead
Report it right away to HR or asset protection
Put the discipline in writing, especially if the policy says “up to and including termination”
Don’t hand out verbal “passes” for something that breaks company policy
Train supervisors - their words carry legal weight
Pick a policy and stick to it. Winging it (pun intended) gets expensive
The Real Lesson
The turning point was the supervisor's choice to dismiss the incident informally. That response closed the case - whether the company realized it or not.
If your policy says zero tolerance, the response must match. No take-backs. A shrug in the moment can carry more weight than you think.
Thanks for stopping by
New posts will drop once a week. For now, Curb Misconduct is free to read. Down the line, it’ll shift to a paid subscription model - but not yet.
If you found this breakdown helpful, subscribe, drop a comment, or forward it to someone who still thinks verbal warnings don’t matter.
Misconduct may not be a disaster. Sometimes it’s a signal that something in the system needs attention.
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