ANDREW A. ROMERO, APPELLANT,
v.
REEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE APPEALS COMMISSION AND FEDEX GROUND PACKAGE SYSTEM, INC., APPELLEES
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The court affirmed the disqualification of Romero from unemployment benefits for fraudulent representations but reversed the fraud penalty for weeks prior to June 20, 2015, where he was entitled to partial benefits despite overpayment.
A claimant disqualified for fraudulent representations to obtain unemployment benefits may not be assessed a fraud penalty for overpayment periods where the claimant was entitled to partial benefits due to unreported earnings.
[1] A fraud penalty for obtaining unemployment benefits cannot be imposed for overpayment periods where the claimant was entitled to partial benefits based on unreported earn…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRomero collected unemployment benefits for several months to which he was not fully entitled due to unreported earnings. The Reemployment Assistance A…
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Andrew A. Romero appeals from a final order of the Reemployment Assistance Appeals Commission that disqualified him from unemployment benefits for having made fraudulent representations for the purpose of obtaining benefits, established the amount of benefits he was overpaid, and assessed a fifteen percent fraud penalty to the amount of overpayment. Despite Romero’s arguments to the contrary, there is competent, substantial evidence in the record demonstrating that Romero fraudulently collected several months of benefits to which he was not entitled. However, as the Commission properly concedes, the record does not establish that Romero made fraudulent representations prior to the benefit week ending in June 20, 2015, even though he was overpaid for that time period because he had unreported earnings that rendered him eligible for only partial benefits. See § 443,036(44)(a), Fla. Stat. (2017) (one is “partially unemployed” in any week he or she works less than full time and earns less than his or-her weekly benefit amount); § 443.111(4)(b), Fla. Stat. (2017) (describing calculation for determining partial benefit payable to an individual who is partially unemployed in any week). Accordingly, we vacate the Commission’s order to the extent that it imposed the fifteen percent fraud penalty for the weeks prior to the benefit week ending June 20, 2015, and remand for the adjustment of Romero’s overpayment for those weeks based on his entitlement to partial benefits. In all other respects, we affirm.
*1283AFFIRMED in part, REVERSED in part, and REMANDED.
WETHERELL, RAY, and WINOKUR, JJ., CONCUR.