Can they do this?

[chinabloo]

What is the name of your state? Ohio

My husband was terminated in January for not accepting an assignment in another state. He filed for unemployment, his company fought it a couple of times, but my husband won.

Last year, my husband got an advance from the company and had not finished paying it back when he was terminated. He also cashed a couple of checks made out to his employer because they didn't pay him for some past jobs he did. He knows this was wrong and illegal, but it is done.

His former company threatened to sue and press charges unless he made a payment agreement for both the advance and the checks he took. He made the agreement, but the company also forced him to agree to not file unemployment anymore as part of the agreement or no deal would be agreed to.

Since he wasn't terminated for embezzlement and the unemployemnt office found in my husband's favor several times, can his former employer legally make him not file anymore? They seem to be two separate issues.

 

[Beth3]

Yes, they are separate issues. An employer may not require an employee to waive their rights to file for unemployment or worker's comp, as those are statutory benefits provided by/regulated by the State.

The question however is whether your husband wants to pursue UC benefits and possibly have the employer decide to file criminal charges for embezzlement.

 

[chinabloo]

More info

Part of the agreement that both parties signed stated that his former employer cannot press charges so long as he is making his payments on time and then never once he has paid back the $5K.

Luckily, though, my husband just got a job offer today so we won't have to worry about it anymore!