ESD claims I owe $40,000 - received appeal hearing notice - lawyer needed?

Yes, you definitely need to request all documentation on how they calculated this amount ASAP. I had an overpayment issue (much smaller - about $3,800) last year. Call ESD immediately and request a detailed breakdown of the alleged overpayment. Ask specifically for what weeks they're claiming were overpaid and why. You have the right to this information before your hearing. As for a lawyer - it depends on your situation. The Office of Administrative Hearings doesn't require one, and many people represent themselves. However, with an amount that large, it might be worth getting at least a consultation with someone who specializes in unemployment law.

I had something similar happen (though my amount was $12k) and it turned out they had determined I wasn't eligible for the entire claim period. Do you know WHY they're saying you owe this money? The notice should have some explanation code or disqualification reason. Before your hearing, you absolutely need to: 1. Gather ALL documentation related to your claim (approval notices, weekly claim certifications, any communications from ESD) 2. Write a timeline of your employment/unemployment 3. Prepare your case for why you believe you were eligible You CAN win these appeals - I had my overpayment reduced by 80% by showing documentation that contradicted their findings.

omg thats so much money!!!! i got a $2300 overpayment last month and thought THAT was bad. did u maybe forget to report some work or something? that happened to my cousin and he had to pay everything back

The ESD system is COMPLETELY BROKEN. They're doing this to thousands of people right now - sending massive overpayment notices with zero explanation and expecting people to figure it out themselves. It's CRIMINAL! I had to fight for 7 months to fix an "overpayment" that was THEIR ERROR in the first place. They told me I didn't submit job search activities when I DID and had proof!!! Don't let them intimidate you. Document EVERYTHING. Record every phone call (WA is a two-party consent state so tell them you're recording). This is a tactic to scare people into not appealing. FIGHT IT!!!!

I was in almost the exact same situation in January - $35k overpayment notice out of nowhere. I spent 3 weeks trying to reach someone at ESD with no success - constant busy signals, disconnections after waiting on hold for hours, and no responses to my eServices messages. Finally found a service called Claimyr that got me through to an ESD agent in about 20 minutes. They have a video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3 The agent was able to explain exactly what happened with my claim and what documentation I needed for my appeal. Turns out ESD had incorrectly calculated my base year wages. I won my appeal and had the entire overpayment dismissed. Don't panic until you have the full story!

So I actually work at a legal aid office (not a lawyer tho) and we see these cases ALL THE TIME. Here's what you need to know: 1) You should contact your local legal aid office RIGHT AWAY - they often have free help for unemployment cases 2) Don't miss the appeal hearing no matter what!!! 3) In WA state, you can apply for a waiver of the overpayment if paying it back would cause financial hardship Also the calculation of $40k seems really high unless you were claiming for a really long time or getting the maximum benefit amount. Def something fishy there.

I went thru this whole overpayment thing back in January. Whatever you do dont ignore it hoping it'll go away!! My friend did that and they started taking money from his paychecks. Make sure you attend the hearing even if you dont have all your documents yet. The judge might give you more time to get everything together if you ask nicely.

One thing to consider: if the overpayment notice says it's due to unreported earnings, get an official earnings record from every employer you had during your claim period. You can also request your official wage records from ESD themselves as evidence. If there's a discrepancy between what you reported and what employers reported to ESD, that could explain the issue. Also, check whether they're claiming this was a fraudulent overpayment or non-fraudulent. The difference is important for penalties and repayment options. If they're alleging fraud, you'll want to take that very seriously.

Update: I was finally able to get through to ESD this morning. Turns out they somehow duplicated my entire claim history and counted it TWICE, plus they're claiming I didn't report income from a job I never even had! The agent said it looks like a system error combined with possible identity mix-up with someone with a similar name. She's escalating it to a supervisor but said I should still prepare for the hearing just in case it's not resolved by then. Thank you all for your help and advice!