Feds investigate unemployment hearing controversy
Federal officials visited Augusta Tuesday and Wednesday to investigate allegations that Gov. Paul LePage pressured lawyers who decide on unemployment payments to rule more often in favor of employers.
The Sun Journal reported auditors from the U.S. Department of Labor were in Maine Tuesday and Wednesday to examine the state's unemployment files in response to a report the paper published last week.
That news has eclipsed an announcement Wednesday from the governor that he will form a blue ribbon commission to investigate the state's unemployment compensation system. Through a spokesman, the governor has denied allegations that he interfered with the unemployment hearing process.
The paper reported Wednesday that Barbara D'Amore, a federal work force security chief, met with Laura Boyett, head of the state's Bureau of Unemployment Compensation, for more than four hours Tuesday.
The paper said a spokesman for the Maine Department of Labor declined to comment on the reason for the visits.
The visits followed a written request by attorney David G. Webbert, president of the Maine Employment Lawyers Association, that federal officials investigate claims that the governor interfered with the unemployment hearing process, according to the Portland Press Herald.
The Sun Journal reported last week that unemployment hearing officers said the governor pressured them to rule more often in favor of employers during a lunch meeting March 21.
State labor officials have denied that the governor applied undue pressure during the lunch meeting.
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