Senator: Jobless agency wrongly providing benefits

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A Senate subcommittee chairman wants to know why South Carolina’s unemployment agency awarded jobless benefits to people fired for misconduct, seemingly disregarding a law signed in June.

Sen. Kevin Bryant says he called a meeting Wednesday so the Department of Employment and Workforce can explain why 56 fired workers received the maximum 20 weeks of benefits in the week after a law took effect.

That law calls for total, automatic denial of benefits to workers fired for misconduct.

A DEW spokeswoman says the agency sent Bryant information on 518 claims. Adrienne Fairwell says three-fourths of those had some type of ineligibility and were disqualified an average of 17 weeks. That means they received three weeks of checks on average.

An advocate for the poor notes every case has two sides.