Pro tip: never go into a Hearing without a lawyer.

Can't go back and change that now. My point is that we shouldn't have to. Particularly in non-fraud cases.

I screwed up too and owe thousands of dollars to PA now. 🙃

I'm pretty sure you can appeal. If it's worth it you can lawyer up for that.

I’m just curious, what were the circumstances? Did your notice explain why they are trying to recover the PUA?

They claim that I should have received benefits through regular Unemployment Compensation and NOT through the PUA program. So, the issue isn't necessarily that I shouldn't have been paid at all, just that it was through the wrong program.

Appeal the appeal? I would consider that for sure.

Ugh I'm sorry!! I hate that anyone has to go through this.

I’m sorry this has happened to you.

Lucky enough to only have had only one Unemployement hearing in my entire life and the Judge got it completely wrong.

Case before mine was a young pregnant lady and the Judge was bending over backward to make sure she got unemployment by asking leading questions and if she went down the wrong path, he would follow up with a question that basically told her to revise her answer. It was such a sham.. and her case clearly sounded like she should NOT have gotten unemployment because it was based on her being let go because of attendance or something like that.

Then mine starts, and the Judge is horrible as hell. Treats me like shit and right away I can tell he is going to side against me regardless of what I say. You could even see his demeanor change in his face from the smiling at the young pregnant lady to scowling at me as his voice tone changed as well.

After the case, I figured this Judge had a running tally going. He would let one person get unemployment, then go against one, etc.. and the pregnant lady simply beat me.

When I got the notice I lost the case, I wasn't surprised at all.

I learned then to NEVER work for a shitty company and if you do, quit as soon as possible. The company I had worked for had been sued numerous times for misdeeds including employee mistreatment, lack of payments, etc. Soon as I knew that was happening, I should have quit on the spot. But instead, I worked there like a fool for years until it was my time to be mistreated. But like you, I was surprised to find out how little Unemployment court really cares about getting it right.

They do not collect on non-fault overpayments, BTW. You can pay it back but they won’t come after you for it. Instead, they’ll take it out of future benefits the next time you apply.

The judge probably knows that:

1. It absolutely ridiculous that the US doesn’t have paid maternity leave.

2. It’s extremely hard for pregnant people to be hired as employers know they will have to take a large chunk of time off. This is illegal, but it happens.

3. Getting fired for attendance is a common tactic that companies use so they are less likely to be sued.

The one and only time I was fired, they denied me unemployment. Yes, I would agree. They seemed to have some personal grudge against me or something.

Oh I understand WHY he forced her to win. But it does show how lopsided the process can be.

Especially in Pa, an at will state where they can just say "sorry, you're not the right fit here"

This is the only thing keeping me from breaking down about this 😂

Why is this getting downvoted?

If you were before a referee, you can appeal

I only had one hearing, state of Florida. First time being laid off, and the rep that took my application was oblivious to the fact that I’ve never filed unemployment before. She called and asked for a work search log, so i just put jobs I had applied to on a word document and emailed her that. SHE DENIED MY CLAIM, basically saying I wasn’t “making an effort” to find a job. I demanded a hearing. At my hearing, I said I never filed unemployment before, and this chic asks for something I didn’t know I needed to begin with. That’s how I won my appeal. He said if I had submitted the proper way of doing a work search log, that would have indicated I’ve done it before, and would have flagged for some type of fraud.

I’ve had 4 different unemployment cases that were all denied. I appealed every one and I won each and every one of them.

Open up a backdated claim under regular UC so you can repay the PUA back.

You can file the claim online and request the backdate. Repayment would be handled much later, if found eligible under regular UC.