In a tale echoing the struggles faced by many during the pandemic, a woman from Chicago has found herself embroiled in a legal battle over unemployment benefits. Seeking justice, she has enlisted the help of the ABC7 I-Team to shine a light on her case against the Illinois Department of Employment Security.
At the heart of the issue is a demand from the agency for her to repay thousands of dollars she received during the COVID-19 pandemic. While numerous individuals across the nation received excess federal unemployment funds during that time, many of these debts were forgiven. Unfortunately, this leniency did not extend to Renee Jackson, who is now contesting accusations of unemployment fraud.
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Jackson, a resident of Lake View, was taken aback when she received official notifications at the start of 2025, accusing her of fraudulent activities. “This has been weighing on me,” Jackson expressed, referring to the repeated claims against her. “They’re saying that I certified for unemployment when I was working, which I did not.”
Her ordeal began when she lost her job as an executive assistant during the pandemic, prompting her to file for unemployment benefits. Although she eventually secured employment again, Jackson continued to receive federal assistance through the CARES Act, which was automatically deposited into her bank account. Now, she faces the arduous task of proving her innocence in a system fraught with complexities.
“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.
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