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A lawsuit has been filed by Florida citizens who claim the unemployment website for their state does not function properly.
The Florida unemployment lawsuit was filed against the Governor of Florida and the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
Plaintiffs Richard Walls, Desiree Del Romano and Mike Latner claim that they attempted to utilize the CONNECT system to file for unemployment, but have not been successful due to the flawed computer system.
Walls says that he was laid off on March 23, 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. On that same day, he reportedly attempted to use the CONNECT system to file for unemployment to obtain benefits that were due to him under the law.
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Walls states that from March 23, 2020 to April 23, 2020 he has been unable to make contact with anyone at the Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) in order to obtain his benefits.
He says that the unemployment website has been unusable and that his status has been listed as “pending” since March 23, 2020. Walls claims that he has sometimes been able to log into the unemployment compensation website, however, the site winds up displaying various error messages.
Del Romano says she had similar experiences trying to file for unemployment benefits. She states that she worked for Delta Airlines and was told on March 15, 2020 that her hours were going to be reduced because of the coronavirus.
She claims that on that day, she applied for unemployment through the CONNECT system but it kept on knocking her off and rejecting her application.
The plaintiff claims that it took her numerous days to get through on the website in order to submit her application on March 17, 2020. She states that she finally reached a service representative after being on hold for five hours, only to be told that the system was down and none of her questions could be answered.
Del Romano states that as of the filing of this lawsuit, she has still not obtained unemployment benefits.
“Plaintiffs, and all others situated, were unable to obtain access to the unemployment system to apply for benefits and even after gaining said access, were diverted to another site or have been unable to obtain RA/unemployment compensation benefits rightfully due to them,” the Florida unemployment lawsuit argues.
The plaintiffs allege that the defendants have failed to maintain an adequate employment compensation system to pay valid claims to unemployed citizens in Florida, some of the most needy due to the coronavirus pandemic.
An article in USA Today states that the system was created by former Governor Rick Scott and a Republican dominated legislature seven years ago and that it is now failing Florida workers during a pandemic that has seen record-setting unemployment.
The article states that the current Governor Ron Desantis knew about the flawed unemployment benefits system, but did not act until it had a “meltdown” after more people were laid off and were looking to the state for assistance.
In addition, the article goes on to say that the system was taken down for a weekend so that it could be worked on.
ABC Action News in Tampa points to another lawsuit that was filed against the Governor, the DEO, and Deloitte Consulting LLC, a contractor who had developed the site years ago. That lawsuit alleges that the system was not created and administered correctly.
The article also notes that more than 1.8 million claims have been submitted to the unemployment system, although some might be duplicate or triplicate claims.
The article goes on to say that nearly 219,000 claims have been processed and that around 153,000 have been paid out.
Another plaintiff in this case, Latner, says he was laid off from his job as a restaurant worker on March 20, 2020. He claims to have applied for unemployment benefits on March 22, 2020.
Latner says that it took him two weeks to attempt to claim unemployment benefits, which he was going to use to support himself and his family.
He says he finally received a notice for his unemployment benefits claim on April 20, 2020 and was told that he was “ineligible” for benefits because he did not make enough money when he was with his employer. Latner claims that this is false, as he has been with his employer for a year and a half.
Common questions of law and fact in the Florida unemployment class action lawsuit include: 1) payments of unemployment benefits to the citizens of the state of Florida; and 2) whether the defendants failed to maintain an adequate unemployment compensation system to pay valid claims to the citizens of Florida during the coronavirus pandemic.
The plaintiffs are represented by Gautier Kitchen of the Kitchen Law Firm and Marie A. Mattox and Julie Meadows Keefe of Marie A. Mattox PA.
The Florida Unemployment Class Action Lawsuit is Richard Walls, et al. v. Ron Desantis, et al., Case No. 20 CA 000792, in the Circuit Court of the Second Judicial Circuit for Leon County, Florida.
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30 thoughts onFlorida Unemployment Website is Inadequate, Lawsuit Claims
Please add me, now they are claiming they overpaid me and they are not fixing the issue.
I would like to join this class action suit.
In December 2020, the status of my claim was changed to from “active” to “pending”. As a result, I have not received unemployment benefits from DEO since January 06, 2021.
After several attempts to contact DEO and resolve the issue, I sent an email to Governor DeSantis on June 30, 2021 trying to find out why I have not received any benefits.
August 23, 2021, I received a letter in the mail from DEO confirming that I am entitled to receive unemployment benefits beginning December 27, 2020, but I still have not received anything.
Please add me filed march 2020
ADD ME ..Melissa Laney.
after a appeal I finally was got $828.00 it took 4 months with nothing coming in. to get that
they still owe me 6 weeks on hold. they say I owe $182.00 I say ok subtract it from the 6 weeks owed to me and sent me the difference. No it just throws in bad in adjudication. I guess DEO cant do the simple math. yes I want to join, the stress, almost losing my home, no health insurance and I am 64 years old I will be lucky if I make it to 65
Please add me still have not received unemployment
Deloitte has donated thousands to Ohio politicians, including the governor. They have been withholding our FPUE and PUA for over a month now. THIS IS RIDICULOUS AND OBVIOUSLY POLITICAL PAYBACK for the donations!!! We’re so fed up with this CORRUPT government, people are getting EVICTED, cars REPOSSESSED and meanwhile these a**holes are probably investing our money & making money back – or already lost it all!! SOMETHING NEEDS TO CHANGE NOW!
Add me still waiting for 4 weeks of unemployment from may 15, 2020
I tried filing for weeks and could not get thru, also tried calling and was diconnected and if and when i did get someone, i was told there was nothing they could do.
Did anybody get ahokd of you thru this comment to join the class action?
I have my own cleaning business, only me and my clients homeowners insurance covers accidents. I’ve been hurting financially because being a florida resident, my clients mostly are snowbirds. So no travel from Canada means not much work. I found out I had to be turned down by unemployment first before I could file under the small business. Well it took over 3 months to get denied. Then when I tried to log into the site again to request the other form, it said my email and password where incorrect, i looked and the partial email that it showed wasn’t mine. Being concerned that someone was trying to steal my identity i filed to have them check. I recieved an email telling me I had to call them. I’ve been trying for the last 3 months to call.. I cant get thru no matter what hour I call…now I’m concerned that someone else is getting my money..