Self-employed jury analyst says DEO owes her $14,000 in jobless benefits

Broward County mom says 1099 tax forms causing delays

BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – Denisse Higgins-Tuffley says her business as a courtroom analyst for insurance defense cases went from flourishing to flat when COVID-19 forced courts to shut down last year.

“March 16 was my last trial date,” Higgins-Tuffley said. ”The courthouses decided to halt all of the jury trials.”

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The self-employed analyst is the sole owner of ASAP Trial Technologies based in Broward County but hired for electronic insurance defense cases across the country.

When her business came to a halt, she told News 6 she applied for unemployment benefits, complete with 1099 tax forms.

Nearly 21 weeks later, she had no explanation for why she hasn’t received any help.

“I have a spreadsheet and it looks like they owe me $14,000,” the frustrated courtroom analyst said. “Make a long story short, I’ve had to sell a lot of stuff so we don’t get evicted.”

Higgins-Tuffley is highly critical of the Department of Economic Opportunity’s current unemployment system.

She told News 6 the DEO needs a separate website to accommodate self-employed workers who find themselves out of work and in need of weekly benefits.

“They knew this system was not going to be able to sustain the self-employed,” she said, " It took them four months to process that they actually received (my) records.”

She said a recent separation with her husband left her in a difficult financial situation, draining her savings and forcing drastic cutbacks.

(Make Ends Meet, News 6) (Copyright 2020 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

“Are you kidding? I’m surprised I don’t have an eviction notice yet,” she said.

News 6 checked Higgins-Tuffley’s claims and found that on Jan. 12 her account had expired but that may be linked to the 1099 delays.

News 6 presented her files to the DEO for complete review.

In an email, DEO Communications spokesman John Farmer confirmed, “This is under review by the Reemployment Assistance team.”

Higgins-Tuffley said if the DEO reviews her wages they should confirm her findings.

The DEO is usually able to update accounts presented by News 6 in five business days.

If you have an unemployment issue email-makeendsmeet@wkmg.com


About the Author:

News 6’s Emmy Award-winning Investigative Reporter Mike Holfeld has made Central Florida history with major investigations that have led to new policies, legislative proposals and even -- state and national laws. If you have an issue or story idea, call Mike's office at 407-521-1322.

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