March 27, 2024

Court Case with Mass. Department of Unemployment Assistance Settled

BY Leigh Woodruff, Litigation DirectorCommunity Legal Aid

After three years of litigation, Community Legal Aid settled a lawsuit with the Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA), the state agency that administers unemployment insurance benefits in Massachusetts. Representing five workers with low incomes (Plaintiffs), Community Legal Aid filed the suit in Worcester Superior Court in late 2020 alleging that the DUA was failing to follow its own regulations and procedures with respect to administering unemployment claims during the pandemic. In early 2021, the Court ruled in favor of Community Legal Aid’s request for a preliminary injunction. As a result, tens of thousands of Massachusetts residents who had been waiting for DUA to rule on their claims were provided with the benefits they desperately needed during the height of the pandemic.

The Plaintiffs represented by Community Legal Aid in this case were workers whose employment had been affected by the pandemic. Initially, DUA approved the workers’ unemployment insurance (UI) claims and began paying them weekly benefits. But later, without notice or a hearing, DUA suddenly placed workers’ claims on “hold” and stopped paying them weekly benefits. DUA even demanded that some workers repay thousands of dollars in benefits that they had already spent on rent, food, and other necessities. This left workers in an untenable state of limbo: they could not appeal, because their claims remained officially “approved,” but DUA had stopped making paying their weekly benefits.

Community Legal Aid’s clients were not alone. DUA had placed thousands of workers’ UI claims on hold, which left thousands of Massachusetts families without resources to pay bills and buy food.

In March 2021, Worcester Superior Court issued the preliminary injunction that ordered the DUA to resume paying weekly benefits. Due to Community Legal Aid’s victory in obtaining the preliminary injunction, DUA agreed to settle the remainder of the case. Under the settlement, DUA promulgated new regulations (430 CMR 11.00) that preserve policy and system changes that it made based on the preliminary injunction. DUA also agreed to pay $50,000 to Community Legal Aid for its attorneys’ work on the case.

Community Legal Aid’s Litigation Director, Leigh Woodruff, commented: “In 1935, Congress created the unemployment insurance program to stabilize the economy by providing income for workers who lost their jobs during the Great Depression. The COVID-19 pandemic led to another national economic crisis and the loss of many jobs. CLA’s victory in this case reaffirms that DUA—and other government agencies—exist to help the people of the Commonwealth. So, when people need that help, it is absolutely unlawful for a state agency to halt benefits or services, claiming that the need is too great or the problem too big. The Constitution and other laws continue to apply during times of crisis. That’s the lesson of this victory.”

The case is Marrero et al. v. Jeffers, Docket No. 2085-CV-00937 (Worcester Superior Court).

About Community Legal Aid:

Community Legal Aid provides free civil legal services to the low-income and elderly residents of the counties of Western and Central Massachusetts (Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, and Worcester), and maintains offices in Worcester, Fitchburg, Springfield, Northampton, and Pittsfield. CLA works to assure fairness for all in the justice system, protecting homes, livelihoods, health and families. For more information, please visit www.communitylegal.org.