UIA CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT-WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW  

Posted on by Blanchard & Walker

In the UIA Class Action Complaint, Blanchard & Walker clients allege Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Agency is illegally assessing “overpayments” and initiating collection activity against a broad class of UIA claimants who relied on pandemic unemployment assistance in 2020 and 2021.   The lawsuit seeks injunctive and other relief to recover for unlawful actions that violate the due process rights of UI claimants.

LATEST UPDATE 7/18/2022:  The Court of Claims has ruled!  Preliminary Injunction Granted! – because Plaintiffs are likely to prevail on due process claims related to unauthorized Agency collection before UIA Claimants have had a hearing and opportunity to appeal the Agency’s late reversals of benefits.  But nothing is that simple… and the Michigan UIA continues to fight back. 

UPDATE 3/08/2022: In recent development, the Agency has announced a temporary halt on new collections, until May 7, 2022.  Current collections do not appear to be suspended.  We continue to fight against unlawful collections activities. Although we hope for the best, recent reporting has suggested the Unemployment Agency will not be able to make good on the waivers as promised.

RECENT MEDIA COVERAGE

If you may be affected by UIA Overpayment Collection take the survey here

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RECENT FILINGS IN UIA OVERPAYMENT CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT:

Court of Claims June 13, 2022 Opinion and Order on Preliminary Injunction and Agency Motion to Dismiss. Preliminary Injunction Granted! – because Plaintiffs are likely to prevail on due process claims related to unauthorized Agency collection before UIA Claimants have had a hearing and opportunity to appeal the Agency’s late reversals of benefits.

But nothing is that simple… and the Michigan UIA continues to fight back. The Agency has filed a motion seeking to limit the scope of the injunction to only the named Plaintiffs (and asking the Court to allow continued collection against everyone else).

Meanwhile, Plaintiffs have filed an Application for Leave to Appeal the portions of the Court of Claims’ Order dismissing Plaintiffs’ additional claims for Agency illegal collections more than a year after benefits, and for failing to provide an administrative process to review for whether overpayments should be waived based on Agency error.

Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction Pleadings:

Michigan Unemployment Agency Motion to Dismiss the Class Action Lawsuit Pleadings:

If you may be affected by UIA Overpayment Collection take the survey here

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The lawsuit alleges three practices of the Agency are unlawful:

  • UI claimants who received “Monetary Redeterminations” retroactively reducing or cancelling UI benefits more than a year after the original Monetary Determination.
  • UI claimants who were assessed overpayments and suffered collection activity before Agency Review for whether the overpayments were a result of agency error.
  • UI claimants who are facing collection notices, garnishments, and other collection activity while protest and appeals remain pending.

The full complaint in Saunders v. Unemployment Insurance Agency is available here.  Potentially hundreds of thousands of Michiganders are impacted.  If you believe that you may be impacted by one or more of these practices, you may complete a short survey to provide your information.  Then we can reach out if your assistance is needed.

*WE ARE NOT ABLE TO RESPOND TO INDIVIDUAL INQUIRIES*

*WE ARE NOT ABLE TO PROVIDE INDIVIDUAL ADVICE OR REPRESENTATION*

Depending on your location and income level, you may qualify for representation or counseling from one or more of the following groups offering UI representation:

You may consider filing a report regarding your UIA experience to the Attorney General’s office here.

If you would like to notify Governor Whitmer’s office of your UIA experience, you may do so here.

Please follow us on Facebook @michiganemploymentlawyers for updates on this matter.