The Washington State Court of Appeals agreed with the state’s Department of Employment Security last week and found that the department correctly followed the federal offset law before intercepting a staff attorney’s tax refund due to the department overpaying his unemployment benefits due to COVID-19.
The Washington Department of Employment Security (DES) determined that Michael Weisman, a staff attorney for the Washington State Department of Health, underreported the hours he worked for two weeks, resulting in the overpayment of unemployment insurance benefits to cover his furloughed time. The department notified Weisman of his liability for the overpayment payment and said his tax refund could be intercepted to offset the debt, according the appellate court’s opinion filed June 5.
