ATLANTA – The Southern Poverty Law Center and an Atlanta-based law firm filed a class action suit against the Georgia Department of Labor on Tuesday for unprocessed and unpaid jobless claims.
The lawsuit filed in Fulton County alleges extreme delays in processing claims throughout the coronavirus pandemic in violation of state and federal law.
Four plaintiffs, represented by the Montgomery, Ala., Center and Bondurant, Mixon & Elmore LLP, are calling for relief for delays unemployed Georgians have suffered in initial benefit establishment, payment of benefits and appeals against negative decisions.
“The pandemic created the biggest unemployment crisis in generations, and during that difficult time (the Department of Labor) refused to obey the law to help people who urgently need it,” said Emily Early, senior attorney for the Department of Commerce Center Justice Project.
“State and federal laws guarantee timeliness and adequate procedural rights, and (the department) has ignored those rights. … This catastrophe cannot go on. “
State lawmakers, beset by complaints from unemployed voters, have also criticized the ministry’s handling of unemployment claims since COVID-19 hit Georgia last March.
The General Assembly responded by passing a law earlier this year to create the position of Labor Director, who works with Labor Commissioner Mark Butler to expedite the processing of unemployment claims.
However, Governor Brian Kemp vetoed the bill, arguing that the new position would have conflicted with the constitutional authority of the elected Georgia Labor Commissioner without providing a legal mechanism to resolve disputes between the two.
When Butler challenged the Chief Labor Officer’s law before a legislative committee, he pointed to the unprecedented nature of the pandemic, which in months plagued his agency with more unemployment claims than it had to deal with in the past decade.
He said he had looked in vain for more money for the department for years.
Butler said Tuesday the lawsuit was politically motivated and unfounded.
“These groups believe that unemployment insurance should be paid to all applicants regardless of their qualifications,” he said. “Those same groups should care more about helping people get back into any of the hundreds of thousands of jobs currently available across the state of Georgia.”
The lawsuit seeks an injunction that will force the Department of Labor to comply with state laws and enforce plaintiffs’ state rights to due process. She is also demanding monetary damages.
