RICHMOND, Va. -- The pandemic may be moderating but the Virginia Employment Commission is still struggling to process tens of thousands of appeals of claims they denied.
Their performance in that regard is nearly the worst in the country.
One Prince George man said that he has become an unfortunate member of this group.
"I had to go through the process where I put my bank card information back in so they can send it. I thought it was good and then nothing ever happened," Richard Bullock said.
Bullock is a freelance photographer and has been waiting almost two years for the VEC to tell him why his federal benefits abruptly stopped in July 2020 at the height of the pandemic after just three months.
"So I really got upset and then kind of petty and I wonder why they're not responding, is it the right email? I started sending each one of them about five emails an hour," Bullock said.
With no weddings or parties to schedule during the lockdown, the 45-year-old Prince George father of three spent hours and hours with hundreds of calls and emails, all to no avail.
No one at the VEC could tell him anything.
"I did get in touch with a representative on the phone. And she stated that they had hired some new staff I guess. And that's what they're waiting for. So I guess they're telling everybody whoever they got, get trained enough, that's when they'll do it," Bullock said.
Eventually, Bullock was told he had to file an appeal despite the fact that he never received a denial letter or any explanation at all. So, in September 2021, more than a year after he was cut off, he appealed. Now another 13 months later, he is still waiting for his case to be heard.
"Someone tell me what happened. That's it. what I can understand. And they could just say hey, I'm sorry. We was overwhelmed. We just was caught off guard. I can accept that. Cuz this was something no one was prepared for. But don't get on TV and act like that. Everything is glory. Everything is good and the citizens looking at TV like what are they talking about?" Bullock said.
Unfortunately for Bullock, Virginia has one of the longest wait times for unemployment appeals hearings in the country. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, in July the VEC had an average hearing wait time of 299 days.
Only three states were worse.
The DOL said it should take no more than 30 days.
Those numbers also show that Virginia has a backlog of about 85,000 cases with more than a quarter, an astonishing 22,000, taking more than a year for a hearing.
Only California, a state with five times Virginia's population, has more appeals pending.
It was only after CBS 6 contacted the VEC this week that Bullock even got a call with a promise that he'd learn the date of his hearing soon.
"She finally contacted me yesterday and told me that she was going to get my hearing date. She said I'm gonna call you back by the end of the day, which was yesterday, or first thing tomorrow morning with the hearing date. Here It is now I don't have a hearing date, I haven't heard from her," Bullock said.
Bullock did receive a call from the VEC late Thursday and learned that his appeal will be heard on October 27.
