NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment benefits were a critical lifeline for more than a million Tennesseans. But five years later, the state is once again trying to claw back thousands of dollars in “overpaid benefits” from people who were eligible for the assistance and say they did nothing wrong.
Mike Ramirez, a mechanic from Middle Tennessee, collected unemployment checks for 11 weeks in 2020 after losing his job due to the pandemic. He says that money—$875 a week—helped feed his family. But now, Ramirez is being told he owes the Tennessee Department of Labor $6,099 for overpayment.
“I never really got a detailed explanation of why,” Ramirez said. “I feel like they’re just trying to take food from my family now, and that’s not right.”
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