Unpaid for weeks, Disney workers push back on DeSantis

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — On Monday Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed back on a question about the thousands of Floridians denied unemployment benefits.

“Excuse me, excuse me -- when you say I have somebody, the question is, has that person completed an application?” said DeSantis in an exchange with a reporter.

The governor on Monday as well as at an event on Friday defended the CONNECT system’s rejection rate, suggesting user error.

However, there is one group that should be immune from error but are not: Disney cast members.

“It said that I was denied due to insufficient income,” says Laura Colt. “On the bottom where it says employer info is was just zero, zero, zero.”

Read: As thousands wait to get unemployment payments, some Disney workers say they were overpaid

Colt is one of the dozens of Disney cast members who has reached out to 9 Investigates after the state auto-enrolled them in unemployment and have since had their claims denied.

Nine Investigates has asked the Governor’s Office to comment on this specific matter, but the office has not responded.

Coronavirus in-depth report: Disney Springs to reopen; DeSantis discusses unemployment system Walt Disney World will have new measures in place for Disney Springs' partial reopening. And Gov. Ron DeSantis plays defense during a news conference about the state's troubled unemployment system.

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