CINCINNATI, Ohio – When Dante Grissom started making good money as a forklift operator, he started collecting all sorts of fish as a hobby.
What you need to know
- Kentucky has more than 122,000 unresolved jobless claims
- Dante Grissom was fired from his job in northern Kentucky in February
- The documentation shows that he is entitled to benefits, but the funds were not paid out
- A personal appointment in Louisville brought no answers
The company he worked for in Covington fired him in February and Grissom was not receiving unemployment benefits, making it difficult to keep up with maintenance.
“These are the things I did before I lost my job, bought exotic fish and had my hobbies, but I can’t do that anymore,” said Grissom.
Grissom and his wife, Cassandra, were concerned about paying bills and keeping up with basic living needs.
“I did a great job. I made a lot of money. My bills have all been caught and now it’s a struggle, ”he said.
Cassandra also saw her working hours cut due to the pandemic.
“It’s really difficult to stay on a balanced plane every day, even in our household where we don’t argue, because you know what it’s like when there’s no money. Everything is on fire, ”she said.
Dante is one of the thousands who applied for unemployment benefits in Kentucky and received no benefits.
Documents he provided to Spectrum News 1 show that he is entitled to benefits and has no obvious ID issues. The unemployed side only tells him that his request is under “fact finding,” a common problem for people who have been waiting for money.
“I’ve got to the point where I start to think it’s a joke,” said Grissom. “I don’t even know if it’s real at this point.”
Dante and Cassandra have been calling the employment office for months without an answer. They even drove to Louisville from their home in Cincinnati to schedule a face-to-face appointment.
“It was a drama,” said Cassandra. “We expected results. We drove there two hours and had to drive back two hours. We expected some results and are here almost a month later and still nothing. “
Dante now has a new job and Cassandra is full-time again, but Dante’s job doesn’t pay nearly as much as his previous job.
“It’s frustrating because it feels like I’m working from behind again,” said Dante. “It feels like I’m moving backwards.”
And given his experience with the Kentucky unemployment system, Grissom isn’t sure he’ll be back.
“I wouldn’t recommend anyone working in Kentucky now just because if you lose your job in Kentucky you will be put on a list of thousands of other people, including me, with no response,” he said. “And you will get into financial trouble.”
According to figures from the Kentucky Labor Cabinet, the state is dealing with 122,578 unresolved jobless claims, of which 56,437 are reported for fraud or identity problems.
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