Georgia DOL Hit with Lawsuit Over ‘Extreme Delays’ in Providing Unemployment Benefits

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A proposed class action claims the Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) has “repeatedly failed” to timely process unemployment benefits claims, issue payments and schedule requested appellate hearings in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Filed against the State of Georgia, the GDOL and GDOL Commissioner Mark Butler, the 45-page case claims the defendants have violated state and federal laws guaranteeing timeliness and due process rights for state residents.

“Repeatedly and systematically, the GDOL has violated those rights—failing to make prompt determinations regarding unemployment benefits, failing to provide prompt appeal hearings of those determinations, and failing to make payments that are undeniably due,” the complaint scathes, alleging unemployment benefits applicants have frequently waited months on end while being unable to contact anyone at the GDOL to help with their languishing claims and appeals.

Per the lawsuit, the defendants’ conduct has forced Georgia residents to “face months of uncertainty, dealing with this ‘crushing force’ while struggling to pay rent and utilities, feed themselves and their families, and pay other regular expenses like medical bills and car payments.”

The case looks to provide financial relief and compel the defendants to comply with their obligations under state and federal law by timely processing unemployment claims, making determinations of eligibility, paying benefits and scheduling requested administrative appeal hearings.

The coronavirus pandemic that began sweeping the globe in early 2020 has led to “devastating levels” of unemployment in Georgia, the suit begins. Although Congress allocated millions of dollars to the GDOL to assist with the distribution of unemployment insurance benefits, Georgians have experienced “extreme delays at every step of the process,” the lawsuit alleges. Per the complaint, 180,000 unemployment benefits applicants had yet to have their applications reviewed as of March 2021, and Commissioner Butler reportedly admitted that “anywhere between 40,000-50,000” claims were still waiting to be adjudicated in December 2020.

Georgia has fallen far behind other states’ performance in processing and paying unemployment claims, ranking 40th in the nation for timeliness in completing non-monetary determinations, the complaint says. Moreover, the case notes, the state’s pending lower authority appeals had an average wait time of 217.8 days, the second-longest in the nation, in the last quarter of 2020, with the wait time increasing to 256.4 days in the first quarter of 2021.

According to the suit, those looking to contact the GDOL were largely unable to get through to the agency, and Commissioner Butler reportedly admitted that only 15 percent of callers were connected with someone who could help.

The lawsuit goes on to allege that both Georgia law and the GDOL’s own handbook represent that unemployment benefits claimants will receive timely and prompt attention, with each step of the process taking only a matter of hours or days. The plaintiffs, Georgia residents who have applied for unemployment benefits, claim to have been waiting for months and either haven’t heard back at all about their eligibility to receive payments, have received no payments after being deemed eligible, or have not received a requested appeal hearing.

The lawsuit alleges these “extreme delays” need not have ever occurred and are the result of the defendants’ failures to perform their duties in a prompt manner as required by law.

Per the case, the defendants’ actions have left countless Georgians “in financially devastating situations” and without unemployment benefits to offset the costs of housing, utilities, food, medical care and other necessary expenses.

The suit, which was initially filed in Fulton County, Georgia Superior Court before being removed to the state’s Northern District Court on July 30, looks to cover anyone who was partially or totally unemployed anytime since March 1, 2020, applied for unemployment benefits distributed by the GDOL and either:

• Did not receive an initial determination of eligibility within four weeks of their application and have still not received one;
• Received a determination that they were eligible, did not receive payments within four weeks of the application and have still not received payments; or
• Received a determination that they were ineligible, filed a timely appeal, did not receive an appellate hearing and determination within four weeks of their initial determination and are still awaiting a hearing or determination.

The full complaint can be read below.

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