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ARE CHOOSING TO SUE THE STATE GOVERNMENTS. REPORTER BILLY RAVEN IS A CARICATURE ARTIST WHO WORKS AT UNIVERSAL STUDIOS AS A CONTRACTOR. UNIVERSAL IS CLOSED, A RAVEN IS OUT OF WORK. HE HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO ENROLL IN UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS THROUGH FLORIDA’S CONNECT SITE. >> IT CERTAINLY IS FRUSTRATING. I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO SUBMIT ANY INFORMATION AT ALL. REPORTER: G HEA ABOUT A LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST THE ECONOMIC DEPARTMENT OF OPPORTUNITY AND RON DESANTIS THE TWO LAWYERS AGREED TO SPEAK TO US ON SATURDAY, AND THEY SAID: HUNDRED’S AND MAYBE THOUSANDS OF FLORIDIANS MAY SIGN ON TO THEIR SUIT. >> YOU HAVE GOT TRAGEDIES THAT ARE HAPPENING TO PEOPLE. REPORTER: THEY FILED THIS COMPLAINT FRIDAY ALLEGING THE GOVERNMENT A OFFICIALS ARE NEGLIGENT. IT GOES BEYOND SIMPLE MISTAKES. >> ARE YOU SAYING FLORIDA OFFICIALS INTENTIONALLY DI NOT MAKE THE SYSTEM WORK? >> IF IT W NOT FORESEEN BY THIS ADMINISTRATION OR THE PRIOR OR THE PEOPLE WHO WE DESIGNING THE SYSTEM FOR THE THIRD MOST POPULOUS STATE I THE COUNTRY, IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN. REPORTER: GOVERNO DESANTIS IS RESPONDING TO THESE ACCUSATIONS SAYING THE SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO FAIL. >> FIVE OR SIX YEARS AGO, WHENEVER THIS WAS PURCHASED BY THE STATE WAS BEFORE I WAS GOVERNOR. >> THE LAWSUIT ASKED FOR COURT ORDERED CHANGES TO THE SYSTEM AND COMPENSATION FOR FLORIDIANS WHO ARE NOT GETTING HELP. >> I NEED SOME MONEY COMING IN. I AM IN A PROCESS WHE, I DO NOT KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO. REPORTER STATE OFFICIALS HAVE BEEN WORKING FASTER ON PROCESSING UNEMPLOYMENT APPLICATIONS IN THE LAST WEEK. AS OF SATURDAY NIGHT, ON 47% OF A

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Billy Rabon is a caricature artist who works at Universal Studios as a contractor. The theme park is closed as a precaution during the coronavirus pandemic, and Rabon is out of work.The Orlando artist says he is one of the many Floridians who are not able to enroll in unemployment benefits through Florida’s CONNECT website. Rabon found out about a lawsuit filed against the Department of Economic Opportunity and Governor Ron DeSantis and decided to sign on.Tallahassee attorneys Marie Mattox and Gautier Kitchen filed a complaint Friday accusing state officials of negligence in managing the unemployment system. They claim hundreds of Floridians have called their offices with interest to get involved, and other lawyers are reaching out with clients of their own to add to a possible class-action suit. “You've got tragedies that are happening to people,” Mattox said. The lawyers believe state officials did not make critical changes to the unemployment system despite warnings for years.“It’s broken on every level and it was broken before it even got to this point,” Kitchen said. “If it wasn't foreseen by this administration, or the prior, or the people who were designing a system for the third most populous state in the country, by god it should have been.”DeSantis responded to the allegations in the complaint at a Friday press conference where he admitted CONNECT design flaws.“Obviously, the system was problematic. This was, I don't know, five six years ago or whenever this was purchased by the state. It was before I was governor,” DeSantis said. As of Saturday, only 47 percent of applications for benefits were processed, according to DEO records. Officials shut down the CONNECT site over the weekend to allow for faster processing. A DEO spokesperson said they cannot comment on ongoing litigation.The lawsuit asks for court-ordered changes to the system and financial compensation for the many unemployed Floridians like Billy Rabon, who are not getting help.“I need some money coming in. I am in the process where I may be homeless. I don't know what else to do,” Rabon said.