The Southern Poverty Law Center has filed a class action lawsuit against the Georgia Department of Labor.
In the newly filed lawsuit, the SPLC relies on unprocessed jobless claims and failure to appeal during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Monday’s “Closer Look,” Emily Early, senior attorney for the SPLC’s Economic Justice Project, told the show host Rose Scott that the lawsuit was not filed to pay all unemployed Georgians.
Early says the complaint was filed to get the department to promptly pay people who have been awarded unemployment benefits and respond to claims and appeals from people claiming unemployment benefits.
Before the meeting on Monday, Labor Commissioner Mark Butler published a statement to “Closer Look” in response to the lawsuit:
“This is obviously another politically motivated lawsuit. As with previous lawsuits, we expect this lawsuit to be unfounded. These groups believe that unemployment insurance should be paid to all applicants regardless of their qualifications. Those same groups should be more concerned with helping people get back into any of the hundreds of thousands of jobs currently available across the state of Georgia. “
To hear the entire conversation, click the audio player above.
