LePage’s Blue Ribbon Commission Finds No Bias in Employment Hearing Cases

Report does not address Governor’s intimidation of hearing officers

AUGUSTA — Maine’s unemployment hearing officers show “no direct or intentional bias” towards employees or employers in adjudicating unemployment claims, according to a new report out today from Governor LePage’s Unemployment Reform Blue Ribbon Commission.

The commission was created by Executive Order earlier this year following reports that the Governor “scolded” the impartial hearing officers for favoring employees over businesses during a meeting at the Blaine House with their supervisors.  LePage is currently under federal investigation for allegedly pressuring the hearing officers during that meeting to decide more unemployment-benefit cases in favor of business owners.

“This report confirms what we’ve known all along: the only bias or inappropriate behavior here was the Governor’s intimidation of these neutral arbiters,” said House Majority Leader Seth Berry, D-Bowdoinham. “Bullying is no way to govern.”

Unemployment hearing officers, like judges, are required by federal law to be impartial adjudicators and follow federal due process procedures. LePage’s actions undermine the National Department of Labor’s requirement for unemployment hearings to be an impartial tribunal.

“It is validating to hear from an unbiased panel that our state’s hearing officers are doing exactly what they should be doing,” said Senate Majority Leader Troy Jackson of Allagash.  “Unfortunately, and not surprisingly, the real bias comes from Governor LePage who is doing nothing more than putting his thumb on the scale to influence decisions and making it harder for people who are unemployed to get back on their feet.”

According to the reports Executive Summary, the Blue Ribbon Commission found that “complaints and suggestions that a bias exists in favor of employees or employers appear to be based on an incomplete understanding of the existing law and statutory burden of proof…”

The commission recommended improvements for the system, including adding additional staff to help expedite claims and hearings, improve communication coordination in the adjudication process, improve efficiency for collecting information from employers, and technological improvements at all levels.

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