BATON ROUGE, La.: A programming mistake caused thousands of out-of-work Louisiana residents to get notices saying theyd been overpaid thousands of dollars in unemployment compensation and had to return the money, officials say.
I apologize, Louisiana Workforce Commission Ava Dejoie told The Advocate. She said incorrectly programmed computers miscalculated benefits for about 3,000 people and automatically sent the notices.
A notice canceling that overpayment was posted Thursday, Dejoie told WAFB-TV.
Many people got two letters one for state unemployment insurance and one for the federal pandemic unemployment program, WBRZ-TV reported.
Dejoie said affected people will be sent revised notices, and most will be told they do not owe anything. The erroneous notices were sent Sept. 9 and 10 to people who applied for benefits on March 29 and 30, she said.
Katherine Stephens, a legislative worker laid off in April, told the TV station that after her benefits stopped last week, she found a statement on the commission website saying she’d been overpaid. Her calls to the commission were not returned.
She got two letters Monday, one saying she owed the state $4,278 and $9,600 to the federal government.
Theyre essentially asking me for $14,000, and I have 15 days to either pay it or appeal, she said.
The commission set up an email account for people dealing with the problem, a news release said.
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