Job seekers falsely accused of fraud

Rep. Sander Levin (D-Southfield) is calling upon the state to review all fraud cases going back three year after it was discovered that many of those accusations were due to a glitch in the automated system.

Nearly 27,000 Michiganders collecting unemployment were accused of fraud based on the new system. Many of those accused had their tax refunds and wages garnished. Carolyn Hayes was among the wrongfully accused.

“It has put me through so much,” Hayes said. “They’ve taken all of my income tax, I can’t file for unemployment.

When the automated system started, the number of fraud cases quintupled.

“The workers from the beginning told management there were problems with the system,” SEIU attorney Liza Elston Olson said.

A state auditor general’s report shows of those who appealed their cases, nine out of ten won.

Hayes won her two fraud cases on appeal.

“The state has the obligation to seize the initiative and contact every single person who was subject to a lawless, reckless, impersonal system,” Rep. Sander Levin (D-Southfield) said.

The Unemployment Insurance Agency responded saying it abandoned the automated system in August of 2015. The agency also said it has initiated a review and is finalizing the details of it with the U.S. Department of Labor.

Anyone who feels they are unjustly accused is asked to contact the Sugar Law Center at 313-993-4505.