I was recently terminated by my employer, which was a very small
business.  Prior to being terminated, my employer informed me two
months in advance that cashflow was most likely not available to
sustain my employment and they afforded me the flexibility to look for
a new job while having reduced responsibilities in my current job.  It
was not until two weeks before my termination date that I received
official notice of termination.

During this time, I managed to receive a few job offers.  I accepted
one before my final date at the old employer.  The start date is
several weeks in the future, so I will be unemployed for a few weeks.

Consequently, on my termination date, I applied for unemployment
benefits--primarily as a contingency in case the future job offer
falls through before the start date.

My former employer received a notice of my application for UI benefits
from the California EDD and informed me (1) that their insurance
premiums will skyrocket as a result of my claim, and (2) they will
contact EDD and say that (a) my claim was fraudulent because I turned
down other job offers before my official termination date was
delivered and (b) they believed I could have negotiated an earlier
start date with my new employer.  Quite possibly, 2b is true, but the
start date was negotiated to allow for two weeks' notice at my former
employer--ultimately, this was moot because I ended up being
terminated and had to leave.  Now that I have already negotiated a
start date with the new employer, I don't feel comfortable trying to
change the start date as a result of my termination.

I believe that I am entitled to unemployment insurance benefits and I
feel that I have been bullied by my former employer just so that they
can save money on insurance.  I don't want to cause them financial
harm, but I have contributed to California SDI for years and finally
would appreciate receiving these benefits while I am out of work.

I contacted the EDD and they indicated that I am completely entitled
to UI benefits and they indicated that my employer's actions were
"highly illegal".  Yet, I am afraid of the repercussions of having a
fraudulent UI claim on my record and do not know if it is worth
fighting this battle.

My questions are: (1) Am I entitled to receive UI benefits now through
my start date at the new employer? (2) Would the fact that I have
turned down jobs before I was terminated have any impact on my
eligibility to file a claim?  On my UI claim, I explicitly indicated
that I have already accepted an offer and indicated the future start
date of the offer.

Thank you!

You say that you've already accepted a job offer from another employer. 

In order to qualify for unemployment insurance in California (and in
all other states that I know of), you must be actively seeking
employment:

"To qualify for benefits, you must have left your job for "good
cause," which includes leaving because you were laid off, the job was
eliminated, or your employer went bankrupt. Good cause also includes
leaving because of excessive cost or time to travel to work, because a
doctor advised you to change jobs for health reasons, or to accompany
your spouse to a new locality. In addition, you must:

be available to be recalled to your old job or to work in a similar one 

be physically able to perform your old job or a similar one, and 

be actively seeking work in a reasonable and customary way."

http://www.nolo.com/lawstore/products/product.cfm/ObjectID/22DA1761-DF7F-487F-8FE97A9CCA583F11/sampleChapter/21