”Put a dollar in my pocket.”
Posted on 05/27/2024 9:15:11 AM PDT by know.your.why
I need to (unfortunately) learn about legal matters to defend myself in an unemployment case where I was fired at the end of 2020 in the peak of the Covid plandemic. Now three years later the DOL is claiming that I owe them their money back. I need to find the tools to research Department of Labor case law in the state of Alabama. I have gone to google and such but I wanted to ask here because I know that there are some very informed people on this site.
”Put a dollar in my pocket.”
Maybe if you asked for advice someone would respond.
Don’t forget your local EEOC office, they will do a finding and send a letter to your employer.
WWG1WGA! Best wishes.
Declare yourself a transgender black illegal alien and you’ll be fine.
“”DOL is claiming that I owe them their money back.””
I assume that stands for Department of Labor? Is that where one would apply for unemployment in AL? If you received UNEMPLOYMENT during that time, your employer would have gotten notice that you had applied for unemployment and they would or would not say you were eligible for it; depending on what the circumstances were for letting you go. IOW, their side of it!
I’m speaking just from experience with CA regs - being the one who received the notices of people applying..whether unemployment was warranted or not. All states are different...CA could be confusing because the employer paid the unemployment insurance (SUI)and the employee had disability insurance (SDI) deducted from a paycheck. If someone was turned down for unemployment, the complaint would be “I paid for it” which was not true.
Hope you get some helpful answers...
I find that CornellUniversity has many law and tax guides online.
A search for tax law gets me there, but I do not know how many state EEOC rules are online.
“”I assume that stands for Department of Labor?””
Of course, that was a dumb statement - I’m sorry. I see that you did say Department of Labor....
I’ve done a lot of my own legal work over the years and found it to be worthwhile financially and personally rewarding.
It depends on how much TIME and EFFORT you are willing to put into it.
1. Most courhouses have legal libraires which are mostly for attorneys to use in local cases to look up precedents in other cases-—BUT they are available to the public as well.
2. Use the public facilities to research how to file your pro se (leagalese for an individual not represented by cousel) case with the proper judicial jurisdiction. It can be fun entering into the judicial system to see if you can beat a licensed attorney.
3. The first thing that will happen after you file a case is that the defendant (your opponent) will file a motion to dismiss, claiming all sorts of errors you made and giving case law and precedents. Do not get depressed. This is great for you.
4. Your opponent has just given yu a roadmap on your errors and how and where to research them so you can file a motion with the Court for a new submission. Just getting your case accepted by a court will give you a thrill and the motivation to proceed. It’s a little harder now but read this and understand all its ramifications on how to proceed against a motion for dismissal/ https://www.scotusblog.com/archives/Sup%20Ct%20Rewrites%20Pleading%20Rules.pdf
5. Never trust a document filed by an attorney that seems to defeat you on its face. Sadly, I have come across attorneys that file motions with false citations of cases and/or false quotes. Read every damn word and check against the original. If you find errors, prepare and file a motion for sanctions for the court. The system is stacked against you and you probably won’t get any success in punishment for the errors, but you will win some respect and they won’t make any more “inadvertent errors”.
Make sure you are right and go ahead. Good luck
It would be helpful to post the wording they sent you with your personal information redacted.
Usually, the appeal time in unemployment cases is short.
Unless the DoL is alleging fraud, the time to dispute the payments would most likely passed.
good luck in your quest
in Arizona, each county has a “law library” that is in the county courthouse and free to the public plus the librarians are happy to assist
also, I do not know about Alabama, but in Arizona the unemployment is paid through the Department of Economic Security and the state is not dishing out their own funds - the funds are actually taxed/extorted through the employer
at the federal level, employers pay into a FUTA (federal unemployment tax) even though it is RARE for an employer to get a FUTA inquiry (it is just another feral government slush fund)
again, good luck
Is the amount you owe more than your expected legal fees?
https://www.governing.com/work/alabama-wants-thousands-in-overpaid-unemployment-checks-back
“In recognition of the enormity of the challenge the pandemic placed on claimants and State Workforce Agencies, the department’s Employment and Training Administration updated its waiver guidance to approve five new scenarios under which states may apply blanket waiver of recovery of overpayments....”
https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/eta/eta20220207
I suggest contacting one of your state legislators.
Note, I’m not a lawyer. This is something I found by Internet search:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/alabama/Ala-Admin-Code-r-480-4-4-.07
“(1) An individual shall be required to repay an overpayment of unemployment compensation unless a written waiver application is filed with the department and approved by the Secretary or the Secretary’s designee.
(2) The requirement for an individual to repay a final determination of overpayment may be waived by the Secretary, at his or her discretion using the criteria listed in paragraphs (2) through (13) of this Rule, when it has been determined that the payment of such benefits occurred without fault on the part of the individual, and collection of such overpayment would be contrary to equity and good conscience. The Secretary shall not waive overpayments due to back pay awards pursuant to Code of Ala. 1975, § 25-4-78(6).
(3) In determining whether the individual was without fault, the following factors shall be considered....”
Let me tell you from personal experience if your a white male the EEOC could care less they will tell you to settle for a little bit of nothing and they will never give you the governments permission to go to court I know that from my Own experience.
Not trying to get personal with you but this is what happened to me going through the EEOC.
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