I had the unusual experience of having everyone else in the office being summoned to an HR meeting and me left at my desk as I'd already resigned...
Much later, when I got into the workforce for real, I learned that I could've collected unemployment checks for this, and that if I'd played my cards right, I could've been drawing unemployment for my first year at college. Ah well - one of my coworkers told me "If you'd done that, I might have to hate you. Unemployment is for workers who need it, not college students who take a gap year at a dot-com."
Unemployment is covered by taxes paid by the employer. You should absolutely collect it if legally allowed: https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Fede...
Additionally, California has additional protections for workers, such as requiring immediate payment for all wages, including accrued vacation, upon termination: http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_paydays.htm
What state was this in? That is certainly illegal in California, and I would assume most states, though people do get away with defrauding the system.
http://www.mass.gov/lwd/unemployment-insur/resources/questio...
I didn't because it never occurred to me - as far as I was concerned, I left my job normally to go to college and they just didn't pay out the vacation pay. I wasn't hurting for money then or now (I was still living with my parents at the time), so I don't really regret it, but it does appear to be a real, genuine loophole in the system.