The unemployment issue revolves around what exactly the woman was fired for - following orders? They told her to go on paid leave, right? Of course they didn't mean for 12 years, but she didn't drop the ball, her bosses did - so what's the official reason for firing her?In most states, when somebody gets fired for cause - like fraud or theft - they are disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits.
That is correct. The issue, though, is that she was put on PAID leave 12 years earlier, [apparently to resolve a complaint she was preparing to file, but no one ever told her to return to work] and never actually fired until recently. While 12 yrs is a pretty long leave, what she did was not legally wrong - just morally indefensible.
The bigger question is why those who neglected to deal with the issue for 12 years aren't facing charges - they also collected paychecks for 12 years without performing their jobs in a satisfactory manner. A few were fired, but so what? They won't actually pay for their malfeasance, they'll just get another job.
And: federal, state, and local law enforcement couldn't find anyone responsible?!
The woman in question isn't the only one collecting a salary for not doing her job - a lot of officials [federal, state, and local] are too.
Blacks, Hispanics, Eskimos, Albinos, or whatever are not exempt. This is a great example of the entitlement mentality that's developed over the years among a certain segment of our society.
I agree that the racism charge is just another slap in the face from someone who has been paid for 12 years of not working, but the responsibility for that is not legally hers.
It boggles the mind that investigators cannot identify who is responsible for this, because they should be paying the money back to the taxpayers.