WA DOL caller’s TikTok gets 2.1M views, like a ‘Parks and Rec’ scene, she said
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Viral TikTok showed DOL’s Spanish line answered by an English automated voice.
- Agency apologized, says a configuration change likely caused it and it was fixed.
- Caller warned language gaps hinder immigrants despite state’s sanctuary stance.
Washington’s Department of Licensing is under fire after a Kitsap County woman posted a viral TikTok video showing her calling the agency and asking to talk to someone in Spanish.
Instead, Maya Edwards heard an automated voice on the other end of the line speaking English with a Hispanic accent, as reported by The Spokesman-Review.
Now the department has apologized for the debacle and says it has taken steps to correct it.
Edwards told McClatchy in a call that her husband is a Mexican citizen whose first language is Spanish. After getting married in August 2024, the couple applied for his green card. During that process the pair decided that he should have a Washington driver’s license, she said, and part of that meant calling the department.
Edwards said the voice on the other end of DOL’s supposed Spanish-speaking line surprised them.
“... it really felt like a scene out of ‘Parks and Rec,’” she said, referencing the popular sitcom.
“It felt like the perfect example of bureaucracy gone wrong,” Edwards said in a call. “I mean, it was just so absurd and funny.”
She added: “But even then, we were like, ‘This is horrible for the people who actually need to access this who don’t speak English.’”
Edwards said although she initially encountered the issue in July, she reposted the video last month after calling back and noticing that it still hadn’t been fixed.
The Feb. 18 TikTok post has received more than 2.1 million views and 321,500 likes as of Tuesday evening.
The Spokesman-Review reported that the newspaper and Spokane Public Radio confirmed Edwards’ account by calling the line late last month, adding that the other language options were given in English, too. An automated voice message later on that same day acknowledged the language self-service option had issues, per the article.
DOL communications manager Christine Anthony told McClatchy in a statement that the self-service feature in question offers automated answers to general inquiries, giving responses in 10 different languages.
She said the problem’s root cause is still being analyzed, but that it seems as though the glitch was caused by a DOL-made “configuration change.”
“The agency apologizes for the error and to its customers for any inconvenience,” she said.
The issue was corrected, and DOL is working to ensure that it doesn’t crop back up, Anthony said. The department will “be more mindful of newer technology as the agency expands language access,” her statement continued.
Anthony said she isn’t aware of any complaints made prior to the recent publication of news articles about the controversy, and that she believes the department’s information services staff discovered the glitch during routine maintenance.
Edwards noted recent efforts where Washington state has promoted sanctuary policies and pushed back against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. To not provide basic accessibility features for immigrants whom the state wants to welcome is “disappointing,” she said.
.jpg)