County Challenges Bogus Benefits Questionable Unemployment Claims Get Extra Attention, Saving Tax Dollars

Getting unemployment benefits isn’t the cinch it once was for people who leave Spokane County jobs under dubious circumstances.

Last year, for the first time in recent history, the county regularly challenged claims for unemployment benefits they considered questionable. The county won seven of nine cases.

The county is self-insured for unemployment benefits, so winning those challenges potentially saved taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars. The exact amount of savings - or even a close estimate - is impossible to make.

The former employees who were denied benefits include some fired for breaking the law and a sheriff’s deputy who quit after deciding the job was too dangerous.

In some cases, the state approved benefits, but reversed its decision when the county appealed. Other employees appealed the state’s denials of their benefits, and lost those appeals amid county challenges.

One former employee must repay $6,120 and another $4,650 as a result of the county’s appeal. Another already has repaid $1,460.

County Administrator Fran Boxer said the county has always challenged the most egregious claims for unemployment benefits. But Ben Duncan, who became county director of human resources 3-1/2 years ago, said he could find no record of the county regularly doing so.

“It was like giving money away,” he said.

The county budgets about $250,000 a year to pay unemployment benefits. At any given time, an average of 56 former employees are drawing benefits, said human resources specialist Heather Kvokov, who tracks the cases.

At most, recipients can receive $12,300 over 20 weeks. The amount of their payments depends on past salary and work history.

A large share of unemployment beneficiaries are seasonal road or parks workers laid off at the end of summer. Others are new hires who don’t make it through their probationary period, when they can be fired at will.

There’s no telling how many former county employees file unemployment claims that are denied by the state Employment Security Department because of information provided by the county. The cases are only tracked if the claimant then files an appeal that the county fights.

Based primarily on county documents, here are the case histories of the nine employees whose claims were challenged by the county:

Geiger Corrections Center officer Sandra “Sunny” Pilkington was fired in 1992 for allegedly having sex with an inmate. She won back the job in 1994, when an arbitrator decided that some of the evidence used against her was fabricated.

Pilkington later went on medical leave for severe back problems, and also filed suit for $500,000 claiming wrongful termination.

She settled out of court for $10,000 and agreed to drop any future claims after inmate Walter Zachman testified during a deposition that the pair repeatedly had sex. Pilkington signed a statement acknowledging the county had ample evidence to fire her.

Pilkington, who continues to deny having sex with Zachman, filed for unemployment in July, writing on her application that she resigned due to health problems.

“It was agreed that there was no job at Geiger that would fit my disability,” wrote Pilkington, whose application doesn’t mention the allegations against her.

Based on her application, the state began paying benefits, for which the county eventually would have been billed. Once the county made its case - and accused Pilkington of fraud - she was forced to repay the $1,460.

Pilkington said last week she did nothing wrong in applying for benefits.

The state denied CherryAnn Coballes’ request for benefits because she was fired from the public defender’s office for violating confidentiality rules. Coballes made printouts of court records that were not supposed to be released from the office. A man charged with a traffic offense had requested the documents, about himself.

Coballes, who blames her firing on “petty office politics,” contends she did nothing wrong. She appealed the state’s decision; the county fought her appeal and won.

Coballes, a single mother who moved into a larger apartment just before she was fired, said Tuesday that losing her unemployment benefits forced her to rack up credit card debt and borrow money from relatives. She is now attending college to become a paralegal.

Bonny Morris was fired by the county auditor’s office in 1997 for falsifying automobile registrations to avoid required emissions tests. She pleaded guilty to a gross misdemeanor, saying she didn’t think she could convince a jury of her innocence.

The state granted Morris’ application for unemployment benefits and paid her $6,120 in 1997. The county won an appeal, and has been repaid $1,972, with $4,148 still to come.

Morris did not return telephone messages.

Embroiled in the same alleged misconduct that led to Morris’ guilty plea, Valdene Troyer resigned in 1997 under threat of being fired. She was not charged with a crime and maintained her innocence in a telephone interview last week.

The state denied Troyer’s request for unemployment benefits. The county successfully fought her appeal.

In 1997, Margaret Donahue pleaded guilty to obstructing justice for interfering with an internal investigation in the 911 dispatch center. She was fired from her supervisory job.

Donahue’s application for unemployment benefits was denied, and the county successfully fought her appeal. She could not be located for comment.

Shari Thompson quit her job as a sheriff’s deputy in 1997, intending to become a truck driver.

The new job didn’t pan out, and Thompson filed for unemployment benefits in 1998. According to her application, she decided to change careers because backup officers sometimes didn’t arrive for 20 minutes to situations she considered dangerous. Her complaints to supervisors went unheeded, she wrote.

“I just decided I wanted to make it home safely every night,” wrote Thompson, who could not be located for comment.

The state denied Thompson’s benefits, saying job conditions when she quit were the same as when she started in 1994. She appealed, but failed to show up at a hearing where the county fought the action.

Laura Wayne, who could not be located for comment, resigned her job in the county clerk’s office in 1997. She was denied unemployment benefits.

Later that year, she reapplied, saying that after leaving the county, she worked five weeks for a commercial fisherman and was laid off. That made her eligible for benefits, and part of those benefits would be paid by the county because benefits are based on employment dating back a year.

The county appealed, saying there was no proof Wayne had held a job. She failed to show up for the appeal hearing, so she lost her benefits and was ordered to repay $4,650.

Faith Gallinger was a summer road worker in 1997. She returned for the 1998 season, but went home two hours into the first day after suffering a severe anxiety attack.

Weeks later, her doctor cleared her to return to work. Gallinger resigned, telling her boss she didn’t think she could be a reliable worker.

Gallinger’s application for unemployment benefits was denied. She appealed and won partial benefits when an administrative law judge ruled that the county hadn’t done everything possible to place her in a more suitable position.

Gallinger couldn’t be located for comment.

Patrick Stuart was fired from the county road department for fighting on the job last July. His application for unemployment benefits was denied.

An administrative law judge reversed the decision. The judge was convinced Stuart did everything possible to avoid the fight, and was only defending himself.

Stuart said his $216 weekly benefits, which ran out earlier this month, meant the difference between living in poverty and being able to pay the bills.

Stuart has appealed his firing. A hearing is scheduled May 19, but the arbitrator’s decision could take several months.

These 2 sidebars appeared with the story:

1. BACKGROUND History of benefits Mandated by the federal Social Security Act of 1935, the Washington Employment Security Department opened in 1937 to temporarily help people “who are unemployed through no fault of their own.” Unemployment benefits are covered by taxes paid by employers. Some employers, like the county, are self-insured rather than paying into the fund. Benefits are not based on financial need, but depend on prior earnings. The 1997 average was $244 a week. Any unemployed worker may file a claim, although not all are eligible to receive benefits. To be eligible, a worker must have worked at least 680 hours in the past 12 months. He or she must be available and able to work full-time, and must actively seek employment. Applicants who were laid off for lack of work are almost always ruled eligible for benefits. Applicants who voluntarily quit or were fired may be eligible, depending on the circumstances. Whether benefits are granted or denied, workers and their former employers may appeal the department’s decision. For more information, see the department’s Web site at www.wa.gov/esd/

2. IN SPOKANE City claims The city of Spokane scrutinizes claims for benefits but rarely finds cause to challenge them. Like the county, the city is self-insured for unemployment benefits. “We don’t challenge very often, unless it is a glaring contradiction,” said Diane Hendricks of the city’s human services department. Hendricks said the city has challenged only one or two claims for benefits in the past couple of years. During the fourth quarter of 1998, 115 former city employees were receiving unemployment benefits at a cost of $51,417. “We do check them closely,” Deputy City Manager Pete Fortin said. “It’s our dollar that’s going right out.”