Maryland Dept. of Labor Hit with Class Action Over Alleged Failure to Issue Unemployment Insurance Benefits

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

A proposed class action alleges the Maryland Department of Labor has systemically failed to administer unemployment insurance benefits to tens of thousands of state residents. 

The 36-page complaint against Maryland Department of Labor Secretary Tiffany Robinson alleges the state’s unemployment insurance benefits system has “failed completely” for many residents, who as a result have had their claims for benefits “languish[] for months” or had their benefits cut off suddenly without notice or explanation. Unemployment insurance benefits in Maryland are supposed to be available to a worker immediately, or as close as possible to the nearest payday following termination, the case stresses. 

Further, the lawsuit says that although data collected by the U.S. Department of Labor shows that Maryland ranks 44th in determining unemployed state residents’ basic eligibility for unemployment benefits in a timely manner, the Maryland Department of Labor has nevertheless issued tens of thousands of unemployment benefit overpayment notices. According to the suit, the Maryland DOL has done so without providing affected residents with notice of the basis for the alleged overpayment or a meaningful opportunity to contest it, in apparent violation of the individuals’ statutory and constitutional rights. 

The filing alleges that both iterations of the Beacon online portal used by Maryland to administer its unemployment insurance benefits program have been “plagued with problems” since the first version of the software was released in April 2020. Per the suit, Beacon users have run up against unclickable buttons, hidden, non-intuitive functions and other issues in attempting to file for unemployment benefits online.

According to the complaint, the Beacon mobile app offers even less functionality than the online portal, with claimants being unable to view, much less complete, action items the Maryland DOL sends them. Claimants have also been unable to see or download correspondence sent through the app, further hindering their ability to receive essential benefits, the case alleges. 

Moreover, the Maryland Department of Labor fails to provide unemployment claimants with ready access to staff who can answer or resolve questions concerning the submission or application of claims, the status of claims or disputes over payments or overpayments, the lawsuit says. 

“Claimants seeking assistance by phone typically must call dozens of times and wait on hold for long periods before they can reach an MDL representative, and even when they do, the representative typically cannot take any action beyond ‘putting in a ticket’ or telling the claimant to wait for updates from adjudicators,” the filing states. 

According to the lawsuit, Maryland failed to issue timely unemployment benefits or otherwise determine initial claims for more than 8,000 individuals in the third quarter of 2021 alone, due in part to staffing problems. In the same quarter, the state failed to timely issue more than 40,000 continued claim weekly benefits, the suit says, claiming such payments were interrupted or delayed for more than 14 days.

The five named plaintiffs look to represent Maryland residents who’ve applied for unemployment benefits but have received neither benefits nor a timely determination in denying their claims. Per the lawsuit, there are thousands of Marylanders in “a similar limbo status,” as they’ve been denied access to both desperately needed benefits and a determination of eligibility that would allow for an appeal. 

The plaintiffs also look to represent those in Maryland who began receiving unemployment insurance benefits that stopped for more than two weeks without an explanation, opportunity to be heard, or a timely determination. The plaintiffs also look to cover Marylanders who have applied for and received some unemployment insurance benefits and then received from the state DOL an overpayment notice without being apprised of a reason for the overpayment determination or an opportunity to be heard or appeal. 

“They now owe thousands of dollars to [the Maryland Department of Labor] without an explanation,” the lawsuit says of those who have received overpayment notices. “There are thousands of Marylanders facing this situation.” 

Get class action lawsuit news sent to your inbox – sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter here.