Failure to Disclose Self-Employment Not Necessarily a Bar to Indiana Unemployment Benefits
In T.W. v. Review Board of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, the Indiana Court of Appeals held that a claimant’s failure to disclose self-employment, absent other findings, was insufficient to support the Review Board’s determination that the claimant was ineligible to receive unemployment benefits.
In T.W., the claimant, a construction staffing manager, was laid off by his employer in January 2010. In applying for unemployment benefits that same month, claimant certified that he had not received any earnings from self-employment. In March 2010, claimant became a member in an out-of-state construction staffing company in which he obtained a twenty-five percent ownership interest. Claimant served as an officer and sales manager of the out-of-state company, while working fifty to sixty hours a week. The claimant, however, did not receive any income from the out-of-state company and continued to actively seek for employment while receiving unemployment benefits.
