Some former employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who were fired, rehired and fired again this spring say they have received debt notices from the federal government to pay it back for health care coverage. Those workers also say the notices are for coverage they never had.
The workers say it’s the latest development in a firing process mired in confusion, poor communication and missing paperwork as they confront the most basic workplace questions.
Three former NOAA employees shared letters titled “DEMAND NOTICE FOR PAYMENT” with NBC News. The letters, dated June 16, claimed the employees owed a debt — sometimes hundreds of dollars — and that interest could be charged. The letters also warned that the debt would be reported to a credit bureau if it went unpaid.
“It’s very gloomy and threatening language,” said Sarah Cooley, who was fired as the agency’s ocean acidification program director in late February.
It’s not clear exactly how many workers who were laid off received the letter. Two former NOAA employees told NBC News they did not receive any such letter.
The notice says the charge is for health care premiums for the eighth and ninth pay periods of the year, a time when their health coverage plans had already expired, the workers said.
“They’re trying to bill me for health insurance after I was fired. I had no coverage,” said Ya’el Seid-Green, a former special assistant in NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. “It’s just more salt in the wound on how incompetent all of this has been.”
Kim Doster, a NOAA spokeswoman, said the agency could not comment on ongoing personnel matters and directed questions to the Office of Personnel Management. An OPM spokesperson said the agency did not have access to personnel or payroll records at other agencies, like NOAA. The Commerce Department, which oversees NOAA, did not respond.
After NBC News inquired about the problem with NOAA’s media affairs group, probationary employees received an acknowledgment of a possible error from the agency in an email.
“Our office has been made aware that you may have received a debt notice from the National Finance Center (NFC),” the email to probationary employees read. “Please know we are working with NFC to resolve this. No action is needed from you right now. We’ll keep you updated as we have more information.”
In February, the Commerce Department fired more than 600 probationary employees at NOAA, including hurricane hunters, meteorologists and storm modelers. Probationary workers are typically in the first or second year of a new position at the agency.
In mid-March, a judge ordered many workers to be reinstated and NOAA placed them on administrative leave. Then, in early April, the Supreme Court paused some of the reinstatements and NOAA fired the workers for a second time.
Former employees said that the rush to fire and reinstate workers has led to paperwork mistakes and confusion, and that they are unable to get answers from the agency.
Sabrina Valenti, a former budget analyst at NOAA, said she still had not received separation paperwork from the agency.
“I was fired four months ago and I still don’t have proof I was fired,” she said.
And workers said they’ve been unable to access health benefits that should have been available to them during reinstatement. Seid-Green underwent surgery in April, at a time when she was on administrative leave.
“We were getting paychecks for administrative leave and our health insurance was being deducted from it,” she said.
After the surgery, Seid-Green learned her health coverage was not active.
Later, she signed up for a temporary continuation of coverage, a program that allows government workers who have exited their roles to retroactively pay for health benefits. But that hasn’t worked, either.
Seid-Green said that means she’s essentially paid twice for health coverage that she has yet to receive.
“I am getting letters demanding payment of more than $14,000 for my surgery,” she said. “Not only did they not give us coverage we paid for, now they’re sending us debt notices for the coverage we didn’t have.”
Tim Whitehouse, executive director of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a nonprofit organization that supports environmental workers and has been tracking these administrative problems, said the errors suggest leadership problems within the agency.
“They’re causing emotional and financial costs on these employees. The Department of Commerce is the worst — quote me on that,” he said. “Other agencies have fixed these problems. They have not come up in other agencies. This is a Department of Commerce problem and a leadership issue.”