Chicago woman fighting unemployment fraud accusations from IDES over COVID pandemic payments
CHICAGO (WLS) -- A local woman fighting unemployment fraud accusations turned to the ABC7 I-Team about her lawsuit against the Illinois Department of Employment Security.
The agency is now demanding that she pay back thousands she was given during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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In some cases, too much federal unemployment money was distributed to people during the pandemic, but many people never gave that money back and millions were forgiven. That was not the case for one local woman, and now she's now fighting unemployment fraud accusations.
Renee Jackson of Lake View says she was stunned when she received these letters at the beginning of 2025, accusing her of unemployment fraud.
"This has been weighing on me, because I feel like I keep saying the same thing over and over and over," Jackson said. "They're saying that I certified for unemployment when I was working, which I did not."
The executive assistant lost her job during the pandemic, collected unemployment and then found work again. But she says after she got a new job, she kept getting federal money under the CARES ACT, which was automatically deposited into her account.
Jackson says she couldn't get ahold of anyone at IDES, and she never went through the bi-weekly certification process to get the money.
"I can't get a straight answer from IDES," Jackson said. "I can't get an answer for them to show me that I certified for unemployment during that time."
Now, the state says she owes more than $7,000 in overpayments, with penalties.
IDES said she was not eligible for that money, but Jackson is fighting back in a lawsuit.
In an appeal document to the agency, she said she did not file for that money while working.
"I don't get how you can certify for unemployment and then when you get a job, you don't certify for unemployment," Jackson said. "And yet their systems, because they were so outdated, continue to pay me."
Throughout the pandemic, the I-Team reported on IDES errors because of an outdated system, backlogs, massive overpayments, and even scam artists who were trying to take advantage of the confusion. In many cases federal overpayments, to people like Jackson who say they were *not gaming the system, were forgiven. The acting director of IDES at the time, Kristin Richards, addressed the issue.
"We're working with federal partners to develop a process for how those individuals may request a waiver," Richards said at the time.
New data from obtained by the I-Team from IDES shows that from 2020-2024 the state had more than 485,000 overpayment cases, totaling almost $1.6 billion. Of that number, more than $106 million dollars were recovered. More than 65 million dollars were waived or forgiven .
IDES would not comment on Jackson's case, saying "we cannot share details of individual claimants."
In its response to Jackson's lawsuit, IDES did not argue the case but through its legal counsel, the Illinois Attorney General, IDES said the decision should stand based on the records and ineligible payments Jackson received. The Illinois AG also said in a filing that the court should uphold the state Board of Review's decision to dismiss an appeal by Jackson, because she filed 12 days too late, but a judge recently disagreed.
"So yeah, that means a lot and it means a lot to me that the judge ruled in the appeal process in my favor because he saw the evidence," Jackson said.
Now, Jackson has the green light to go through that appeal process and try to get that overpayment forgiven.
"I still have to fight, however," Jackson said. "This is big because I won the right to go back to IDES and say, 'No, you are wrong, not me.' That is what is big about this."
Jackson says she will continue her fight to not pay that money back. She says she feels this process is also about clearing her name, saying she did not commit unemployment fraud.
Anyone being accused of fraud should not ignore the notices, and ask for evidence.
