I will be upfront I am a Conservative who reads the Kos. But, Liberal, Progressive, Conservative or Communist - anyone who reads this story should be horrified.
When the economy fell apart in 2008, I lost my job as a Corporate Attorney. After six months, I walked into the local Walmart and applied for a construction project. For four months, I worked on the 10pm-7am shift building shelves and hanging signs for a steady $9/hour. Even though, I've found work off and on since then as a Lawyer (got laid off again this year following a takeover) I've continued to work 1 night per week at Walmart because it allows me to obtain inexpensive health insurance.
Occasionally, when some of my friends at Big Blue have gotten themselves into legal trouble I've volunteered to help them out. And that's how I became involved in this story.
Bob has been with Walmart for about ten years. How to characterize him? Openly gay and a bit flamboyant. Our store is in off the beaten path - flyover country - about 50 miles northwest of a major eastern city. Diversity here is whether you prefer to hunt with a bow, a shotgun or a rifle. Where you're never too young to chew tobacco and camoflage never goes out of style.
In short, not a place that you would automatically think was welcoming to homosexuals. But, everyone thinks the world of Bob he is the epitome of a good man.
An overnight cashier and low level manager - Bob earns about $12/hour, he is the epitome of the working poor. Five nights a week he shows up and puts in his time. He goes from paycheck to paycheck. Often, it isn't how much money is left at the end of the month, rather it is how much month is left at the end of the money.
In late 2009, he was diagnosed with lymphoma. While he received chemo treatments he was unable to work. During his absence, he received welfare payments and food stamps. He didn't get much, but it was enough for him to pay the rent and buy groceries. In short, the system worked exactly as it was intended to - he fell on hard times and the State safety net was there for assistance.
Seven months later, with his illness in remission he returned to work.
Now, Welfare & Food Stamps work differently that unemployment compensation. With UE, every two weeks you have, either, call in or go online to request payment. As part of the process, you have to report any money you received from working. So as soon as youi return to work the system will stop sending you money, unless you actively defraud the system on your biweekly claim.
Welfare is different.
The welfare system seems like it is set up for theft. A recipient automatically continues to receive funds until they self-report that they have obtained work. In Bob's case, he attempted to follow the rules. Two weeks before returning to work he began calling the welfare office so he could let them know of his impending status change.
He called, and he called and he called some more. And not once did anyone at any of several phone numbers bother to pick up the phone. After a few minutes, each call was transferred to a central operator who was supposed to pick up, instead he would sit on the phone for an hour listening to a neverending recording promising assistance "as soon as the next available operator" could answer. Which never seemed to happen. When the calls went nowhere, Bob began to send the welfare office letters. He sent them a letter one week before returning to work. He sent them a letter with a copy of his paystub within one day of obtaining his first paystub. He sent them letters in June, July & August. And no one responded.
Eventually, the payments ceased, but concerned that there might have been an overpayment Bob continued to try to contact the welfare office by mail and phone. With no results or response. In December, Robert finally received a response from the welfare department - he was charged with 2 counts of misdemeanor fraud (defrauding food stamps & defrauding welfare). The office claimed he had received just shy of $1500 illegally.
Now, when someone receives benefits by mistake or illegally there are a lot of options open to the State. They can set up a repayment plan. If someone is not cooperative, they can file a civil action to obtain a judgment and then seize property; and finally in cases where there is fraud they can bring criminal charges. But, criminal charges should be the LAST step and if justice is to be served it should only be done after an investigation has taken place. None of that happened here. Instead, it was the policy of the welfare department to "charge first, and ask questions later".
After learning of Bob's plight, I requested a meeting with the welfare office. They couldn't see us until late April - 2 months after being contacted and almost 5 months after they charged Bob with a crime.
At the office, the lead investigator claimed that Bob had obviously failed to report his return to work because they had no record of any calls or letters. Furthermore, he shouldn't have received benefits because he never applied for social security benefits as he had been instructed. When the investigator left the room to make photocopies, Bob and I spoke. He produced from his papers - not only his application for social security benefits, but his rejection letter as well as photocopies of each letter he had sent to the welfare department. We showed the paperwork to the investigator when she returned and I suggested that since here was clear evidence of bad record keeping - at least as far as their flawed social security records, then maybe the rest of Bob's story was also true.
Now, I'm a big man and by my nature I have a slow fuse, but when I saw the look of smug condensation on her face I wanted to leap across the table and beat the investigator to death with her own limbs. That simply couldn't be she explained - despite the proof of bad record keeping - any letters Bob would have sent would have been handled by a different part of the department and she had absolute faith in them.
But, in a gesture of goodwill the welfare department was willing to drop the charges provided Bob could pay them $1475 in a lump sum.
$1475 from the Walmart cashier....with $20,000 in unpaid medical bills....who was a month behind on the rent...owed the electric company a thousand dollars....and who had just helped pay for his father's funeral not 3 months earlier.
Yup, that money was just burning a hole in his pocket.
Oh and one other tiny thing. Bob would have to acknowledge he had intentionally defrauded the welfare system, waive any claims he had against the welfare department and agree to become inelligble for welfare or food stamps for a period of one full year.
And if his cancer came back tomorrow?
Too damn bad.
Needless to say we walked out.
The negotiations having failed our case was scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Friday, May 13th. An ominous sign is there ever was one.
Two days before the hearing the lead investigator called me to confirm that we wouldn't settle and to let me know of the witnesses she intended to have the District Attorney call at the hearing.
She was as certain as only a bureaucrat can be.
Now normally, preliminary hearings are a rubber stamp for the prosecution. But, because Bob was under such tremendous stress and distress because of the proceedings I decided to take a shot and present a full defense.
As we entered the court room the ending was sudden and anti-climatic.
I approached the Assistant District Attorney to introduce myself - she told me the charges were being dropped.
Bob was overjoyed, I was stunned.
You see -- DA's don't drop charges just on the spur of the moment. They are Prosecutors and that is what they do. Absent an evidentiary hit on the side of the head with a proverbial 2x4 they don't quit.
So what happened?
It seems all of Bob's letters had turned up the day before the hearing. They were sitting with a pile of other papers on the desk of a welfare department employee who had been assigned to his case. She had retired several months before and no one had bothered to look through her desk before beginning criminal procedures.
NO ONE HAD BOTHERED TO LOOK!
No one had bothered to look when we protested Bob's innocence and notified them of the letter's existence.
No one had bothered to look when we pointed out the flaw in the social security records.
No one had bothered to look before they charged an innocent man....a cancer survivor with crimes theoretically punishable with 2 years in prison.
No one had bothered - it was just your government at work.
No apology. No accountability.
It makes you wonder how many people just back down. If I hadn't helped Bob I am certain he would have been convicted. How many others have fallen victim to these injustices.
If you choose to comment - I'd ask you to focus on one additional question - how can the people at fault be made accountable without imperiling the man who was victimized?
