MATHEW T. SULLIVAN VS. BOARD OF REVIEW, ET AL. (BOARD OF REVIEW, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR) (A-1664-20)
The court affirms the Board of Review (Board) decision, which denied a re-hearing after the Appeals Tribunal and agreed with the Division of Unemployment and Temporary Disability Insurance (Division) decision to seek repayment of unemployment benefits improperly awarded to petitioner.
Petitioner voluntarily left employment in October 2019, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Petitioner filed for and was awarded unemployment benefits for eight weeks, beginning in April 2020. In July 2020, the Division notified petitioner that he was not eligible for unemployment benefits under N.J.S.A. 43:21-5 because he did not leave for good cause attributable to work and his circumstances did not meet the criteria the under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 9001 to 9141. Thus, he was ineligible for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits. The Division imposed the refund for petitioner to repay the improper unemployment benefits.
Petitioner appealed, and the Appeal Tribunal affirmed that petitioner was disqualified for such unemployment benefits. The Board agreed. Petitioner brought this appeal, arguing that because the Division erroneously gave petitioner the funds, it is estopped from seeking a refund.
The court agreed after considering the CARES Act's expansion of benefits under the PUA, petitioner was not eligible for benefits during the relevant time period. The Division is required to seek repayment from individuals who are ineligible for unemployment benefits, and petitioner did not show that he was in fact eligible, and the Board's decision was not administered arbitrarily, capriciously, or unreasonably. Further, the State is not estopped from seeking repayment because petitioner did not show a manifest injustice by the Division's decision to seek the required repayments it erroneously awarded.
