Anderson County woman told to pay back unemployment despite never receiving benefits

ANDERSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WATE) — The Tennessee Department of Labor said an Anderson County woman owes thousands of dollars in unemployment benefits collected during the pandemic. However, Tabitha Sharp said she worked during the pandemic and has never been unemployed.

She showed WATE bank statements during the months the state claimed she drew unemployment. The bank records are for April and May in 2020. From what we saw, the documents do not show any unemployment benefits coming from the state or federal government.

Sharp, who has five children, said she worked during the pandemic. Yet, the state claims she drew unemployment, but was ineligible for it, and must pay it back now.

Sharp is a single mom who holds down two jobs. She’s a driver for FedEx and waits tables on her days off. She couldn’t believe it when this Statement of Account arrived from the state Labor Department claiming she was ineligible for unemployment benefits.

“I never applied. I have always worked,” said Sharp. “I was working during the pandemic.”

The state said she received $4,444, but shouldn’t have.

“I want them to show me proof that I owe them something,” she said. “They are threatening to take my wages.”

Sharp asked her credit union to pull records from early 2020.

“These are my deposits from April and May of 2020. There are now deposits from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce. But I’ve never received any money from them. I really wouldn’t even know how to apply for unemployment. I have just always worked,” said Sharp.

Sharp said she tried to contact the local Labor Department to make her point.

“I have emailed them. You can’t actually talk to a person face-to-face anymore. They gave me a sheet of paper with an email on it, telling me I can send an email to them and they would investigate it and for me not to be worried about it,” Sharp said. “That I wasn’t the only one that this had happened to. But, I am worried about it. I am a mom and I work two jobs and I work hard.”

According to Sharp, the Labor Department said that someone had stolen her identity and that it was fraudulent.

“The thought of someone threatening to take my money makes me very upset when I work really hard for it,” said Sharp.

After the statement from the state labor department arrived, she got a statement from the IRS.

“They have taken $738 to a debt, an unemployment debt,” said Sharp.

The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development processed hundreds of thousands of unemployment claims during the COVID-19 crisis. As required by the federal Department of Labor, the state must go back and audit all claims to ensure accuracy.

We contacted the state asking about Sharp’s claim that she never drew unemployment and has the records to prove it. The state responded, “We called her several times, but she hung up on us.” Sharp told us she was “unwilling to reveal personal information over the phone” and said “they called while she was at work.”

The Department of Labor Commissioner Deniece Thomas said she understands that when a government phone number shows up it creates suspicion.

“Some folks they see a government call come through and for whatever reason they don’t take the call. But we can’t fix it if we don’t communicate,” said Thomas.

Sharp said she has a big family to take care of and is now working on a time schedule agreement with the state.

“I can’t afford someone to take my wages from me. Especially if I don’t owe it,” said Sharp.

Thomas said she is aware that many people are upset that they are just now receiving notices about their unemployment benefits from four years ago, during the pandemic. She said it took years for the Federal Labor Department to send their audits to her office. She says her employees have been retrained so that they can solve issues when they hear them.

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