AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine’s labor commissioner is blasting accusations by a whistleblower that the department destroyed records of complaints against a new unemployment insurance filing system.
The Morning Sentinel reports that Labor Commissioner John Butera described “accusations of improper handling of information” as “baseless and unequivocally false.”
Butera said the program is working as intended despite some challenges at early stages of rollout.
The Morning Sentinel obtained an internal confidential memo claiming the state botched rollout of the new system and covered up complaints by destroying them.
Democrats Rep. Ryan Fecteau and Sen. Shenna Bellow say constituents report long waits and poor customer service.
Fecteau is calling for the Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee to investigate the department and the Office of Information Technology.
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