A blog dedicated to carrying on the work of Gary Welsh's Advance Indiana by continuing the fight for the Republican Principles of limited government, free speech, advocate for good government, rule of law, civil liberties, and opposing cults. We oppose the Church of Scientology. Send any requests, news tips, or gossip. Email: 6vwts@notsharingmy.info. Use the Contact Form on the right side of the screen. Follow on Twitter: @IndyRepublicanX
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Tuesday, February 15, 2022
A Reader’s Request for help with Unemployment Insurance
Thursday, July 15, 2021
Hoosier Supermom Jennifer Glynn’s Facebook Page helps Hoosiers resolve their Unemployment Issues
Her only experience was going through the unemployment filing process before, but her free advice has been priceless for nearly 7,000 Hoosiers struggling to get the benefits they deserve.
“These people shouldn’t be losing their homes, they shouldn’t be losing everything that they own,” Glynn said. “I’ve had people tell me that they were on the brink of depression until I helped them, that they were on the verge of giving up until I gave them hope.”
Glynn says while the group feels like a full-time job, often answering calls and messages at 3 a.m., she believes it’s necessary work because people are growing desperate.
“Who else is going to help them?” Glynn asked. “I’m trying to help everybody that I can. And there have been times that I have not been able to help somebody. And that’s disappointing.”
She says the most common issue she sees is when people receive a letter for making an error on their filing or their appeal form. That error that can be costly.
“I specifically know one woman, she had to wait over a year just for one error,” Glynn said. “That’s the longest that I’ve seen.”
However, she says it’s been nearly impossible to get someone from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development to answer a phone call or email, making it difficult to figure out what the exact error was.
Glynn says if a claim has an issue, it can’t be fixed until a claims representative or an investigator.
“The Indiana Department of Workforce Development currently has 16 issues listed on their COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions worksheet,” Glynn said. “The list that I have, I currently have a list of 47 that could cause issues and keep somebody from getting paid. Big difference, right?”
Glynn says, after doing extensive research, she was able to create templates others can fill out to make sure the right information is getting to claim representatives so that errors are not made. She then helps to make sure those forms are sent to the right place.
Tuesday, March 9, 2021
Workforce Development’s Failed Attempt to Combat UI Fraud
It took me about eleven hours to get ahold of all three state unemployment offices to report the fraudulent claims and accounts in my name; to contact the Equifax, Transunion and Experian credit bureaus to initiate a year-long credit freeze; to speak with law enforcement agencies in all three states and to file a police report in Indiana; to file a stolen identity report with the Federal Trade Commission; and to reach US Bank and Wells Fargo to deactivate the debit cards and fraudulent bank accounts opened in my name.
Fortunately Segall was able to take care of his issue while being unemployed. But most others are not so lucky. It is nothing less than a travesty of justice and fiscal irresponsibility that after all these years the state of Indiana continues to have such a colossal wreck of a state unemployment system. We all remember back in 2012 when Paul Ogden and the late, great Gary Welsh wrote about how whistleblowers at the state pointed out how mismanagement at DWD contributed to the insolvency of Indiana’s UI Trust Fund. As well as the awarding of a contract to DWD to a company that the then head of IT at DWD Roy Templeton had a financial stake in which Gary and Paul also reported on.
Governor Eric Holcomb:
Office of the Governor is located at 200 W. Washington St., Rm. 206, Indianapolis, IN 46204
Phone Number: 317-232-4567
To send an email click on: http://www.in.gov/gov/2752.htm then select " To contact the governor with questions or comments unrelated to the above, click here."
Reach Governor Holcomb on Twitter:
@GovHolcomb
Reach Eric on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GovHolcomb/
Reach out and leave a message for Eric on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmcggUX5rA1za_ya16joSKA
Or go to his Instagram Page:
https://www.instagram.com/govholcomb/?hl=en
To give DWD a piece of your minds:
Indiana DWD Benefit Call Center:
1-800-891-6499 (M-F 8:00 am to 4:30 pm EST)
DWD Mailing address:
Department of Workforce Development
10 North Senate Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46204
DWD Fax:
(317) 633-7206
DWD emails & phone #’s where available:
Commissioner Fred Payne - Send DWD Commissioner Fred Payne your thoughts, complaints, gripes to this address:
Commissioner Fred Payne
c/o
Department of Workforce Development
10 North Senate Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Or by email: FPayne@dwd.IN.gov
Chief of Staff Josh Richardson - JRichardson@dwd.IN.gov
Chief Communications Officer Bob Birge - RBirge@dwd.IN.gov
To find your state legislators go to this website:
Monday, March 8, 2021
Victims of Unemployment Fraud Forced to Fight Indiana’s Workforce Development System
Saturday, November 18, 2017
Indiana State Supreme Court deals another blow to State Employee Whistleblowers
More bad news for Indiana State Employees. Kara Kenney of WRTV reported on Monday November 13th, 2017 that Suzanne Esserman a 25-year veteran of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) lost her whistleblower case against the State of Indiana.
Kara Kenney writes:
The Indiana Supreme Court has ruled against an ex-state employee who said she was fired for blowing the whistle on misuse of state tax dollars.
In a decision handed down November 2, the Indiana Supreme Court found the state of Indiana is immune from a claim made by Suzanne Esserman under the Indiana False Claims and Whistleblower Protection Act.
Esserman told Call 6 Investigates she was fired from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management when she refused to rubber stamp questionable claims.
In a split decision, the Indiana Supreme Court agreed with the Marion County Superior Court’s dismissal of her lawsuit against IDEM.
Most of the Supreme Court justices said the state is immune from non-tort claims because the whistleblower act does clearly show the state could be sued for violations of the whistleblower statute.
Esserman’s attorney says Indiana workers should be concerned about the ruling, because it makes it more difficult for government employees to expose wrongdoing.
“Ms. Esserman and I are very disappointed about this decision,” said Esserman’s attorney Mary Jane Lapointe. “This decision has the effect of insulating the State from liability for its own misconduct and penalizes the employee who tries to stand up for the taxpayers.”
Justice Steven David dissented, arguing when the law says “employer,” state government should be included in that.
Esserman and her attorney are calling for the state legislature to update the law to specifically include state government as an employer that can be sued under the Whistleblower Act.
“I agree with the dissenting Justice that the term ‘employer’ is clear as a bell, and in our case the State is the employer so the law should apply,” said LaPointe. “We can only hope that the General Assembly will amend this law to make clear that an ‘employer’ includes the State.”
Esserman had worked for IDEM for nearly 25 years and was terminated on January 17, 2014, while working as a senior environmental manager.
The Marion County Superior Court decided IDEM had immunity and dismissed the case.
In December, the Indiana Court of Appeals overturned the dismissal of her whistleblower lawsuit and the case is now in the hands of the Indiana Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments in May.
The Supreme Court ruling pointed out that state workers have another option to sue, under the State Personnel Act.
But Esserman’s attorney said that’s not enough to make up.
“We have utilized that remedy, however, the State Personnel Act’s whistleblower provision does not protect those who object to illegal activity but do not put it in writing—and Ms. Esserman had more oral complaints than written ones,” said Lapointe.
Under the State Personnel Act the employee can’t collect more than 30 days of back pay, and no attorney fees.
Call 6 Investigates has contacted IDEM for a response to the Indiana Supreme Court ruling.
Kara Kenney had first covered this story back in October here.
While we all agree that the State's Whistleblower Law needs to be much better written. IR is skeptical that just enacting a great whistleblower protection law for state employees will do very good. Simply because if the law is never enforced it is meaningless. Longtime readers of INDY REPUBLICAN, ADVANCE INDIANA, and OGDEN ON POLITICS may remember Paul Ogden's fight to be reinstated at the Indiana Department of Insurance after he reported violations of law being committed by an upper-level supervisor. Mr. Ogden was promptly fired for doing his job and reporting illegal activity. We all appreciate and respect Kara Kenney's longstanding commitment to investigative journalism. Ms. Kenney's report on the IDEM Whistleblower reminds us all of Deanna Dewberry's report on Whistleblowers at the Indiana Department of Workforce Development back in 2012.
Here are some links to further information about past state employee whistleblowers:
Paul Ogden's posts on whistleblowing:
http://www.ogdenonpolitics.com/search?q=Whistleblower
http://www.ogdenonpolitics.com/2008/12/part-i-my-days-at-department-of.html
http://www.ogdenonpolitics.com/2008/12/art-ii-my-days-at-department-of.html
http://www.ogdenonpolitics.com/2008/12/part-iii-my-days-at-department-of.html
Paul Ogden and Gary Welsh's posts on the 2012 Department of Workforce Development's Whistleblowers:
http://www.ogdenonpolitics.com/2012/02/whistleblowers-attempt-to-report.html
http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2012/02/whistle-blowers-say-mismanagement-at.html