Angela Skyers, a part-time faculty member at Quinnipiac University, was arrested on March 2 and charged with illegally collecting unemployment benefits while working as a professor, according to the State of Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice website.
Skyers was arrested following an investigation by the Unemployment Compensation Fraud Unit, the website said. After receiving a complaint from the Connecticut Department of Labor, the unit investigated her collection of $8,033 in unemployment compensation from August 2012 to October 2012. She was charged with one count of unemployment compensation fraud and one count of larceny in the first degree by defrauding a public community.
Associate Vice President of Public Relations John Morgan confirmed via email that Skyers is currently a part-time faculty member. He said the university did not have a comment at this time because it is a legal matter.
Skyers was appointed the director of university academic programs at Quinnipiac in 2008, according to the Hartford Courant. She was responsible for coordinating seminars for Quinnipiac, planning for commencement, advising students and helping with activities. However, she was no longer an administrator at the time of her arrest.
Following her arrest, Skyers was released on a $10,000 bond. She is scheduled to appear at the New Britain Superior Court on March 10.
Larceny in the first degree is a Class B felony, according to the Division of Criminal Justice website for Connecticut. If Skyers is found guilty of that charge, it is punishable by either a $15,000 fine or one to 20 years in prison. Unemployment compensations fraud is a Class D felony. If found guilty of that charge, it is punishable by either a $5,000 fine or one to five years in prison.
To be eligible to file for unemployment compensation benefits, the person must be completely or partially unemployed, according to the Connecticut Department of Labor website.
“If you are separated from employment or are employed or self-employed during any week on less than a full-time basis, you may file a claim,” the website states. “If you are working less than full-time, the amount of unemployment benefits that can be paid depends on your gross earnings for each week.”
UPDATE: This article was updated at 11:03 p.m. on March 2 to include that Angela Skyers was previously an administrator at Quinnipiac University in the position of director of university academic programs.
UPDATE: This article was updated on March 2, 2016, at 9:32 p.m. to include information from Quinnipiac’s Associate Vice President for Public Relations John Morgan.
