Conn. Unemployment Appeals Not Being Accepted After Apparent System Failure

The Department of Labor (DOL) said they're not accepting unemployment appeals after staff identified a system failure that could have allowed another filer to see your personal information.

DOL officials said they're shutting down the unemployment appeals filing feature in ReEmployCT after it was determined that a system issued the same docket number to two separate people.

People filing unemployment appeals had to be logged into a specific screen in the online system to see the information of another user with the same docket number.

The problems were related to a technical error that impacted some appeals filed between Friday, Jan. 20 and Tuesday, Jan. 24.

All filers impacted by the system failure have been contacted. A total of 54 appeals were impacted, officials said.

“On behalf of CTDOL, I sincerely apologize to these 54 claimants whose information was potentially exposed. This is a wholly unacceptable situation. We expect ReEmployCT to be a robust, high-quality, high-functioning system. While we anticipate service interruptions for updates and maintenance, CTDOL will not tolerate lapses that risk information or interfere with the unemployment system," Commissioner Dante Bartolomeo said.

The DOL said they've offered guidance and credit monitoring to everyone impacted.

Officials say docket numbers are uniquely assigned so claimants and employers can track their cases through the appeals process. An appeals docket includes personal information such as name, address, social security number and possibly other documents.

The issue was first reported on Monday, Jan. 23. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was notified and now has to shut down the online appeals filing feature.

It was determined that more duplicate docket numbers were assigned, and an examination and report will have to be done.

ReEmployCT receives just under 30,000 weekly unemployment benefits filers. They were not impacted by the system failure.