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Huge Unemployment Claim Problem

IrohIroh Registered User regular
edited November 2009 in Help / Advice Forum
I've been collecting unemployment insurance for probably two-to-three months now, and I recently received notice that my claim was being challenged. If this goes through I'm going to end up paying 4x what I received back to the state in damages which is not going to work well since I have no source of income right now. Assuming that I am completely in the wrong here (Edit: this was completely by mistake, I did not intentionally defraud the state), how the hell do I resolve this?

A short version of my story may provide some more insight:

My claim was for the four years I worked as a co-op student, receiving no credits on my transcript. I didn't think that would be a problem since there was no expressly mentioned rules about cooperative education on the claim forms when I signed up. I think there is some distinction between an internship that results in college credit and jobs that don't, but I need help deciding how I should determine that.

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Iroh on

Posts

  • VisionOfClarityVisionOfClarity Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Call a lawyer.

    VisionOfClarity on
  • IrohIroh Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    VisionOfClarity wrote: »
    Call a lawyer.
    I can't imagine they'd advise me on this for free.

    Iroh on
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  • VisionOfClarityVisionOfClarity Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Many will give you a free consultation or opinion on whether you need representation or look into legal aid. If you're not even sure how much if any trouble you are in it's worth calling a lawyer.

    VisionOfClarity on
  • SentrySentry Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Um... so, wait... you were a student, but not getting any credit? You weren't in any classes? Did you pay any tuition? If not, you were pretty clearly not a student.

    Doing an internship for no credit doesn't make you a student. I hope I'm misunderstanding what you typed here.

    Sentry on
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    wrote:
    When I was a little kid, I always pretended I was the hero,' Skip said.
    'Fuck yeah, me too. What little kid ever pretended to be part of the lynch-mob?'
  • Lord YodLord Yod Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    What state do you live in?

    Lord Yod on
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  • IrohIroh Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Sentry wrote: »
    Um... so, wait... you were a student, but not getting any credit? You weren't in any classes? Did you pay any tuition? If not, you were pretty clearly not a student.

    Doing an internship for no credit doesn't make you a student. I hope I'm misunderstanding what you typed here.
    Yeah sorry for the confusion, I was in a hurry. I had this coop position in addition to being a full time student. The work is recorded on my transcript but did not grant any credits.

    This is in Michigan.

    Iroh on
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  • baudattitudebaudattitude Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    This is strictly how things were explained to me, they may only apply to Oregon, they weren't told to me by a lawyer and I am not a lawyer. Now that those disclaimers are out of the way:

    As I had it explained to me, if you are doing anything that prevents you from taking a job, you are not eligible for unemployment benefits. If you were a full time student and are applying for unemployment on a period where you were going to school, your school would interfere with your ability to take a paying job. Likewise, if you were working as an unpaid intern, that is going to interfere with your ability to take a paying job. Either of those might disqualify you.

    If you are a student, your college may offer free or heavily subsidized legal services. That might be something to look at.

    baudattitude on
  • RaneadosRaneados police apologist you shouldn't have been there, obviouslyRegistered User regular
    edited November 2009
    also remember that ignorance of the law is not a legal defense

    Raneados on
  • khainkhain Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    At least in Washington, you can get unemployment as a student, you just have to fill out some special forms, however I would think that there is a rather large difference between going to school for credits and doing a coop especially if you got paid for it. I think you either need to talk to the unemployment office or a lawyer since this seems like a fairly specific situation and you're probably not going to find anything on it in the unemployment paperwork.

    khain on
  • IrohIroh Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    After a lengthy discussion with the UIA I found out that I'm not likely in any real trouble, but I will have to start a repayment schedule.

    So problem solved. All that's left is to actually find work within thirty days.

    Iroh on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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