California's Unemployment Crisis: A $20 Billion Debt and No Solutions in Sight

Internal documents obtained by CalMatters reveal the failures and missed opportunities that led to one of the largest suspected frauds in U.S. history during California's unemployment crisis. The California Employment Development Department (EDD) missed red flags and failed to make necessary changes before the pandemic, while the state and its top contractors, Bank of America and Deloitte, continued to profit but were slow to deliver relief. The EDD's outdated technology, lack of anti-fraud measures, and delayed application processes allowed scammers to exploit the system, resulting in billions of dollars lost to fraud and delayed or denied benefits for millions of workers. The EDD and its contractors collected millions of dollars from the flawed system, while workers suffered financial instability and hardship. The fallout from the unemployment crisis continues, with ongoing lawsuits and unanswered questions about the extent of the fraud and who will be held accountable.