BY ERIC KOLENICH
Richmond Times-Dispatch
At the onset of the pandemic, Richmonder Anita Johnson was laid off from her job of six years as a qualified mental health professional. She applied for unemployment benefits and began receiving a $900 weekly check. Then in October, she was suddenly cut off.
Locked out from the Virginia Employment Commission website, she tried calling but spent hours on hold. She tried emailing but received an automated response detailing how the VEC had been overwhelmed with claims. She even tried filling out paperwork by hand and dropping it off.Â
But Johnson, 59, hasn t gotten a check or an update on her claims in nine months. The state owes her more than $10,000 in unemployment, she said, and that doesn t include the federal money she would have received.