As laid off Floridians struggle to file for benefits on the state’s broken unemployment website, ABC Action News has uncovered the company that built the system secured its multi-million-dollar taxpayer-funded contract even as the state’s top leaders questioned its work for other state agencies. TAMPA, Fla. (WFTS) — As laid off Floridians struggle to file for benefits on the state’s broken unemployment website, ABC Action News has uncovered the company that built the system secured its multi-million-dollar, taxpayer-funded contract, even as the state’s top leaders questioned its work for other state agencies. Florida hired Deloitte Consulting in 2013 to build its unemployment website. Deloitte is one of the world’s largest accounting firms. The client list for Deloitte and its related firms spans the globe and includes several state governments, including Florida, which paid the company’s consulting arm $77 million to build the website known as CONNECT – the gateway to Florida’s unemployment system. But ABC Action News Anchor Paul LaGrone uncovered the state of Florida was actively suing Deloitte for a completely different issue when it hired the company’s consulting arm to build its unemployment website. In a 2010 lawsuit, the state accused Deloitte of malpractice for failing to perform its auditing obligations of insurance companies that folded after a string of hurricanes. The lawsuit went to trial and the jury ruled in favor of Deloitte in 2015. But as the case made its way through the court system, Florida hired Deloitte Consulting to build the state’s unemployment website. Problems with the website were flagged early on. Shortly after being hired in 2013, the Department of Economic Opportunity started fining Deloitte Consulting $15,000 a day because of the problems with the unemployment website. Annual state audits – beginning in 2015 – also found dozens of glitches in Florida’s unemployment […]
