Oregon’s Frances Online was Frances Offline late last week

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Frances Online was Frances Offline late last week.

Frances Online, the newly launched unemployment website from the State of Oregon, was down for about two hours late Friday afternoon. Officials with the Oregon Employment Department told KOIN 6 News it was a server and traffic issue that has since been resolved.

They also said Frances Online itself did not crash or go down, and the staff was still able to access the system.

But that didn’t help those who needed the login, like Chris Ostmo.

Ostmo, who has a background as a software developer, lost his job and is now trying to navigate Frances Online as a user. He doesn’t really buy the OED’s response.

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“That sounds kind of a generic response ‘a server issue.’ It’s too low on resources. Server crashed, operating system problem. Too many users at once. The load balancing or a network appliance went offline,” Ostmo told KOIN 6 News. “That could mean a lot of things.”

KOIN 6 News found the company tasked with building the site, Fast Enterprises, has been in hot water in the past after making a similar site in another state.

In January, Fast Enterprises settled a lawsuit for $60,000 after a group of Michigan residents claimed they were falsely accused of unemployment insurance fraud. Those claimants were then charged by the state, either through garnished wages or taxes.

Fast Enterprises responded: “Having vindicated itself throughout the course of the lawsuit, Fast saw no need to take up judicial resources for a trial.”

OED officials told KOIN 6 News that Frances Online is built differently than the system in Michigan. In a lengthy statement, OED said, in part:

“Aside from having the same vendor, Fast Enterprises, there is no connection between the situation that occurred in Michigan between 2013-2015 and Oregon’s rollout of Frances Online for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits. At issue in Michigan was the use of its computer system to automatically adjudicate claims for fraud without human supervision. That practice was subsequently prohibited by the federal government and has never been practiced in Oregon. Furthermore, Frances Online reflects upwards of 15 years of technological advancements since the system in Michigan was first implemented. Our system was built specifically for Oregon to reflect our laws and policies.”

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