Legal Question in Employment Law in California

Your question is too vague to answer. If your job was handling haz-mat or normally requires an employee to be around it, then obviously not. If your job was in proximity to haz-mat that was properly contained and you were at no risk of contamination, no. If there was improper handling of or exposure to haz-mat, probably, but only if you took all reasonable steps to report the condition and get your employer to remedy it and they failed or refused to do so. Quantity and type of haz-mat would also be a factor.

The issue raised is whether this was a voluntary resignation. The EDD will allow a resignation to operate as a termination if a reasonable employee in similar circumstances would find the working conditions intolerable. You will need to provide evidence that the haz-mat materials posed a serious health threat, and that you took measures to address the hazard with your employer, but that no corrective or protective measures were taken, leaving you no choice but to resign. I think EDD will expect some expert opinion, and might accept a "hearsay" scientific paper on the subject, plus your own testimony, showing the condition was dangerous or at very least you reasonably believed it to be dangerous. Author -- http://www.employee-rights-atty.com