ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Barac Wimberly, of St. Petersburg, says he received a letter in the mail more than eight weeks after applying for unemployment telling him he was ineligible.
The letter said he had 20 days to appeal, the problem was the letter was dated April 27 and postmarked May 12.
"They held onto the letter exhausting most of my 20 days before even putting it in the mail," said Wimberly.
He says by the time it was delivered on May 14, he now has two days to appeal and can’t get through to anyone over the phone to resolve what made him ineligible.
"It disappoints me that the state I was born and raised in has left their citizens high and dry," said Wimberly.
Wimberly says thankfully he worked for a few months in North Carolina this year and was able to apply for unemployment in that state, getting approved in just days. But now he’s out six weeks of pay from waiting for his Florida unemployment.
"If this had happened with any other corporation or business, there would be arrests. There would be fines. There would be all sorts of investigations. But, the people that are responsible for this, there’s no consequence for it," said Wimberly.
