(b) comply in relation to any insured person, with the requirements of this Act relating to the payment and collection of contributions, and by reason thereof that person to whom a benefit under this Act may have been payable has lost in whole or in part the benefit to which he of she would have been entitled, that person is entitled to recover in a district court, from the employer as a civil debt, a sum equal to the amount of the benefits so lost, irrespective of the amount.