About two years later, while our client continued to receive unemployment benefits, her employer noticed a discrepancy between her actual income while working on call and continuing claim for unemployment benefits, which made it look like she was receiving the maximum amount of benefits per week, as if she wasn't working at all. The employer contacted the EDD with that concern, wondering why our client was receiving full benefits while working on call and having some income every week. In turn, EDD issued a determination that claimant incorrently reported or failed to report her income at all for many weeks during the past 2 years of receiving unemployment benefits. A notice of overpayment and demand to repay over $34,000.00 were subsequently issued by EDD to our client.
On the appeal hearing in front of the CUIAB (California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board), the judge confronted our client with the actual timesheets that she filled out and signed, asking her why she marked that she didn't work for compensation during the weeks when she did. Besides stating that her English wasn't good enough to understand the paperwork, which was hardly convincing, our client did not any other explanation. And there could be no other explanation for that misrepresentation.
This case is an important lesson for unemployment benefits receipients in California, who have to make sure that they fully and accurately report their work status and income on every single timesheet submitted to EDD every week to avoid dealing with overpayment issues and fines years later.