Click the play button on the video window to the see the storyPeople filing for unemployment could wait weeks, sometimes months, before they see any money. Some may never see any.
But now a Valley law firm is trying to make Arizona step up and pay up.
Ellen Katz is with the
William E. Morris Institute for Justice.
“Many people live paycheck to paycheck, and when they lose their jobs and apply for unemployment they need the money quickly,” she said.
The law firm filed a class-action lawsuit against the
Arizona Department of Economic Security for failing to make unemployment payments in a timely manner which is required by federal law.
“Not only did they not get any checks, but they didn't get a ruling on their claim,” she said.
The lawsuit points to people going hungry and homeless, to the risk of their health and safety.
Many people who are trying to file cannot get through by phone or online.
The state told ABC15 its online system has crashed at least five times since November from what it calls a "tech" problem.
And Arizona is not alone. So far this year, computer systems in at least five other states crashed.
According to Arizona, claims have tripled. A year ago there were about 4,500 new claims a week. Now, some weeks have more than 13,000.
Patrick Harrington is the head of unemployment in Arizona.
His office would not comment on the lawsuit, but he did speak with us in January.
He said they just weren’t ready for the sudden influx of claims.
“We are handling them as well as we are able to handle them,” he said.
Harrington has doubled the number of customer service representatives since May. And now he is adding 50 more.
"This is not a problem about money," said Harrington, "We can afford to add more positions."
He said it takes four months to train them. Meanwhile, Harrington admitted half of the unemployment cases are not handled in a timely manner.
Nicholas Kory waited almost four months to get his check. He thinks he only got it because the ABC15 Investigators got involved.
“I called, and I called, and called, and I spent one full day on the phone just frustrated as all heck that I couldn't get through,” he said.
Harrington said operators are available, just busy. And he said you will get faster service by using the phone at a job center.
Gama Espinoza went to a job center but still waited five hours in line to use the phone.
“It is a very slow process,” said Espinoza, “A lot of people left because they got tired of waiting.”
Here are the links to the
William E. Morris Institute for Justice and their
lawsuit. Attorney, Ellen Katz can be reached at 602-252-3432.
Here is some
help for speeding up the process of filing for unemployment.
The help is provided by AzDES with job center locations, job fairs and resume help.
