My question involves unemployment benefits for the state of: California.
My husband was laid off and therefore eligible for benefits - that's not the issue...he is looking for work in a different field and will be training in that field starting in June (or at least had PLANNED to do so...). His last job (for over 7 years) was in the mailroom at a large company - the mailroom was outsourced. Hubby was given two options - to become employed with the outsourcing company (for significantly less per hour) or package out. He chose the package as he was/is planning on transitioning to driving trucks etc. Anyway, one of the temp-to-hire companies he signed on with (and btw he has been looking for work all this time!) offered him a position with a company in a mailroom position. He had already advised the temp-to-hire placement co that he was interested only in driving jobs, anyway he turned down the position (which was also for a lot less $$ per hour than he was making at his old job - not that he was making a fortune or anything...).
The big mistake he made was that week, when he filled out his claim form, he answered "yes" to the question "Did you refuse work this week?" well ever since then it's been a total disaster. He only got 1/2 his check and today he had a 'phone interview' with someone at EDD who would not let him explain what happened etc (I was at work so did not actually hear the call...this is what he is telling me). They said they would let him know within 10 days blah blah blah...whether he is still going to rec benefits. The problem is that since he doesn't know if he's receiving benefits he cannot start his training - he was also due to start training on MS Word/Excel/etc through the EDD training department but when he saw them a week or so ago they said he couldn't start training if he wasn't getting benefits etc.
So my question is- just because he responded that ONE TIME with a Yes instead of a no (brutally honest) is that going to be enough to kill his benefits?? Again, it's not the $$$ of the benefits (although that is important too!) as much as the opportunity to train in a new field/acquire new skills. If they DO cut off his bennies because of that ONE QUESTION on ONE CLAIM FORM (he has only been receiving bennies since mid-April) is there anything we can legally do to appeal/reverse the decision? All advice will definitely be appreciated! Thanks so much...hubby is so stressed out right now...

