Hancock Fenton Named Chief Hearing Officer at Maine Department of Labor

July 28, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 28, 2017

Contact: Julie Rabinowitz, 207-621-5009

AUGUSTA?The Maine Department of Labor is pleased to announce the hiring of Hancock ?Hank? Fenton as the chief hearing officer and director of the Division of Administrative Hearings in the Bureau of Unemployment Compensation. He is replacing Liz Wyman, who stepped down last fall.

Fenton most recently served as deputy counsel and advised Governor Paul R. LePage on matters relating to the Departments of Public Safety and Corrections. He graduated from Dickinson College where he majored in Political Science and then earned his J.D. cum laude from the University of Maine School of Law.

While in law school he served as a student attorney in the Office of the Maine Attorney General in the Litigation, Criminal, Consumer Protection and Child Protective divisions. He also volunteered at the Office of the York County District Attorney. In addition to his policy work in the Governor?s Office, he has worked in a number of administrative areas including with the Governor?s Board on Executive Clemency Pardons.

?We have looked forward to Hank joining the bureau,? said John Feeney, director of the Bureau of Unemployment Compensation. ?He will work hard to continue the reforms in the unemployment system that the department has implemented over the past three years as recommended by both the Blue Ribbon Commission and USDOL. His knowledge of the policy process will help us continue to make recommendations for statutory changes that clarify Employment Security Law for employers and protect employees who have lost their job through no fault of their own.?

Fenton expressed his enthusiasm to join the bureau. ?I?m pleased to join the team at Labor,? he said. ?The unemployment system will be undergoing significant improvements in the next two years. This is the right time to join the effort to continuously improve the services we provide to both employers and workers.?

Fenton started his new position July 17. The Department of Labor administers Maine?s unemployment insurance system, helps ensure the safety of employees and provides workforce development leadership and vocational rehabilitation services throughout the state. The department focuses on connecting Mainers to jobs and helping businesses create jobs through strengthening our workforce development system, improving outreach to businesses and clarifying employment regulations.

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