Thread by @AlreadyHip

@RepDerekKilmer Please oppose Suzi Levine’s pick as Assistant Labor Secretary of Education & Training. As you know under her watch as the head of WA ESD 600 million dollars was fraudulently stolen from the department. Next, 1.5 mil claimants had their data exposed to hackers.

The fraud plus the huge influx in claimants caused LeVine to run the ESD by harming the claimants. In the determination letter to claimants ESD says that while they are establishing your claim they “may” pay you. There is no guidance in how they make the determination.

This arbitrary & ambiguous statement is intended to protect the interest of the department. I remind you that Federal Law requires ESD to require employers to respond to separation correspondence within 10 days.

It has been my experience that noncompliance results in an employer penalty and automatic claim approval for the claimant. In other circumstances there is a dispute between the two & the matter requires further study. This is the adjudication process.

Again, it has been my experience that payments continue.
Of course ESD continues to contend they “may” pay you. The fraud event triggered ESD to require document uploading ID of DL & SS card. In May,2020 all payments were halted for 2 weeks to establish ID.

Another process that appeared as a result of the fraud event was that any changes made to your account, bank account, address & such moved your claim into the adjudication status for further verification. Each adjudication means you claim is unpaid.

For a year I have been a member of a FB group of 20,000 ESD claimants. It has been my consistent observation that as a result of the various processes put in place as a result of the fraud event and/or the huge influx of claims claimants were not paid. Some have reported waiting

up to 40 weeks. It was reported that the adjudication process takes between 6-12 weeks depending on your case. There has also been repeated problems with probably assigning claimants to appropriate programs; UI, PUA & now PEUC.

The result of this mismanagement has triggered Over Payment letters to claimants. These are demand letters threatening severe consequences and near immediate payment. Again, I have repeatedly witnessed many claimant’s distress over this event.

The only recourse is to file an appeal and hearing dates are set 2 months out. Many claimants call ESD - there is only one number with only 1 option - and for many it takes days to connect with a representative. Many representatives are ill-trained.

Many times a caller gets conflicting responses. Often, however, the Over Payment demand can be reconciled when the claimant is moved to the correct program. Many claimants had never collected for months, were disqualified, only to call and find out they too were mis-assigned.

My point of contention regarding why I object to LeVine’s position @ Labor is because during a time of utmost desperation, LeVine instituted procedures that delayed payment over weeks to months for tens of thousands of Washington ESD claimants.

Many of these people suffered significant hardships. While many were protected under WA eviction moratorium there are reports of vehicle repossession, utility disconnections, no phone or internet service, and no food. Christmas was especially hard for so many, many Washingtonians

Although there was an alert posted on the ESD website, yesterday via news reports & FB we learned of the ESD and Accellion data breach. First of all, I would of expected with an event so far reaching -

it was reported that up 1.5 million accounts were effected - and involving data of a personal & financial nature, that ESD would of proactively via phone, email or text notified claimants but they didn’t.

My next concern is when was the data hack discovered? LeVine said all claims from 1/1/20 thru 12/12/20 were impacted. Did the hackers just stop mining data after 12/12? Was there a delay between discovery & notification to claimants on 2/1/21?

Whatever the timeframe, the breach & lag has exposed 1.5 million Washtonians to unforeseeable risks involving identity theft, invasion of privacy, theft, & other criminal activity. I am scrambling to quickly recover.

It appears to me that ESD is trying to deflect blame for the data breach away from themselves & onto Accellion. I want to know why, after a 600 million dollar fraud, ESD had not ensured the security of my information?

We played their game waiting on our money, calling repeatedly for days, & providing documents. I remind you, people went hungry and Suzi Levine managed so ineptly that 600 million dollars was stolen from our state and over 1 & 1/2 million of us - 1/7 of Washington’s population

have also now been exposed to fraud. Without any concrete knowledge except intuitive observation based on events, it is possible that Levine used the we “may” pay you verbiage to shield ESD from liability while they withheld claim payments in order to offset losses.

Whether deliberate or not, Levine’s decision to withhold claims during an unprecedented health disaster and its detrimental impact on jobs & economy, is at best negligent & irresponsible and at worst it is cruel.

One last point, if I may. I don’t know the magnitude of the number of claims Levine delayed or denied. However, Washington’s unemployment rate is in part determined by the number of claims paid in a given period. Levine’s actions likely had a direct impact on that figure

when she delayed or denied legitimate claims. For example, I collect Extended Benefits. It’s availability & number of payments is determined by Washington’s unemployment rate. Because our rate declined, I was recently reduced from 20 to 13 weeks of eligibility.

To reiterate, I would like you to inform @USDOL about my objection to Suzi Levine’s position @ Labor and, if you find validity in my concerns, please share the information here within. @GovInslee @SenatorCantwell @PattyMurray @TwinaNobles Thank you, Congressman Kilmer.

I will follow up with email to identify myself.

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One more concern @RepDerekKilmer @TwinaNobles @PattyMurray @SenatorCantwell The data breach caused many of us, if not most, to close the checking account attached to ESD payments. As I stated, these changes often trigger adjudication which in turn delays payments for weeks.