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Ten Florida residents have filed a class action lawsuit against Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity alleging that the state has deprived them of real and personal rights by prematurely cutting off federal unemployment benefits.
In May, DeSantis announced the state would end the $300 a week extended federal unemployment benefits program, saying that the program incentivized people not to work.
However, the Florida unemployment class action lawsuit says that rather than getting people back to work, ending the benefits before they are set to expire in September left un- and under-employed Floridians unable to cover basic living expenses, such as housing, utilities, food, health care, and child care.
The claim adds that the governor cut off the benefits for “purely partisan and political purposes.”
Gia Cuccaro, one of the plaintiffs, was a paralegal for three decades and is now facing eviction. Heather Fulop, a single mom, had her job as a neonatal ICU registered nurse eliminated during the pandemic, according to the Florida unemployment lawsuit.
Plaintiff Lori Beth Ertel was self-employed prior to COVID and was doing accounting work for small businesses, the claim states. “Since COVID, many of those businesses have closed leaving her without clients. She has sent out many job applications with no response. She tried to apply to work at McDonald’s, but was told that she is overqualified and they were worried that they would train her and she would leave when she found something better.”
Without the $300 a week payment, Ertel only gets $125 a week in benefits, which makes it impossible for her to pay her utilities, electric, cable, phone, and car insurance, the Florida unemployment lawsuit adds. She was forced to move in with her adult daughter and 7-year-old granddaughter.
Florida is one of 26 states that have prematurely cut off the weekly federal unemployment payments. However, Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) Labor Data Chief said two weeks ago that the data does not yet tell whether ending benefits will actually spur more people returning to work, Spectrum News reports.
In a letter sent to U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Martin Walsh notifying the DOL that DEO would end the benefits program, DEO Executive Director Dane Eagle said Florida’s labor data showed that “total private-sector employment has increased by 18,800 jobs and more than 460,000 online job postings.”
While there has been 14 consecutive months of job growth, the DEO confirmed two weeks ago that the state still has 300,000 fewer workers now than before the pandemic, Spectrum News reports.
Attorneys Scott Behren, Gautier Kitchen, and Marie Mattox are representing the Florida plaintiffs. Behren told Spectrum News that there was a statute in Florida that said the state must take advantage to the best it can of any federal benefits available for its residents.
“So the arguments that have been successful in other states are that they are violating their own statutes by neglecting and refusing to take the federal money they’re legally required to take.”
The attorneys say the end goal of the lawsuit is to get federal benefits restored for people who were impacted, not just the named plaintiffs.
“Justice delayed is certainly justice denied when you have your lights cut off and your car repossessed,” Kitchen told Spectrum News.
“If Floridians feel like they’re forgotten, if they feel like they’ve gotten the short end of the stick, if they feel like it shouldn’t be this hard and other places have got it right, why not our state, they are correct in their emotions. They’ve been failed.”
What do you think about Florida’s decision to end unemployment benefits? Let us know in the comments section below.
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75 thoughts onFlorida Hit With Class Action Lawsuit for Ending Federal Unemployment Payments
My husband contracted the corona virus in January, he has been hospitalized three times with blood clots in the arteries of his leg and veins, he was hospitalized again for staff infection I had to give up my jod to care for him as my employer denied me accommodation to wor from home, my husband is 64 and I am 59, my husband had to take medical leave without pay, he is unable to work due to the long term effects of covid, due to my age nobody will employ me, the only source of income was the unemployment benefits and the extra $300. WE ARE drowning in medical Bill’s, I dont know what to do
How do I get on this lawsuit. I have a 1 and 5yr old daughters my rent is 265$ a week and I get a total of $250 every 2 wks. I can’t even pay anyone to watch them for me to keep looking for work. Everything I apply for is a no go. My unemployment doesn’t even cover 1 WK of rent let alone diapers or anything else my babies need. I don’t know what the governor is thinking but honestly he’s going to get my lil ones and I put out on the street.
Today, August 9th is the court date. If anybody has an update please let me know
Mother of 3 Struggling scared and need help.. gov desantis needs to resign I have never seen someone so resistant in helping people … his kids aren’t hungry or worried about a roof over their heads go to bed every night knowing their going to wake up and have a healthy breakfast clothes shoes .he smiles and smirk because he and his family don’t have to experience what it feels like for a child to be hungry and in need he is heartless. His children is not only the future all of them are… he needs to resign
This Gov needs to go.. Looking like a dictator mentality, they have also lied that they where fixing the system.. What a lie that has turned out to be. DEO cant get intouch or not even the call back option is available.. its a total Disgrace I have come to the conclusion that this DEO and the Governor dont care a rats ass about us effective by this shutdown.
Id like to be part of that Lawsuit as well ..
I have been trying since March 21 2021 to get unemployment here we are august 5 2021 and still nothing
It’s awful that the whole unemployment state system was built to fail. The state puts business above the welfare and safety of the people it is supposed to serve. It’s been a nightmare trying to get benefits and trying to get anyone to even answer the phone. Even if I call just before 8 a.m. I go through the prompts only to be told they are experiencing a high call volume and to use the website (which doesn’t have the answer) then a few seconds later, it cuts me off. Shame on the reps responsible for this. Hopefully, this lawsuit will get something done. There also needs to be a lawsuit for the failure of the unemployment system to work properly.
I am a mother of two with COVID-19 I haven’t been able to get a job my kids have COVID too. Now without money and with COVID the worse part that breaks my heart is that my 3 month old caught the virus. Now I am in the hospital fighting for my life with no income and husband with COVID-19 lost his job and we have no income. Unemployed taking money from us saying they over paid us $216 every 2 weeks who lives with that.
I have been applying to jobs for several months. I have had a handful of interviews and still am not working. I am older now than the other applicants applying for the hospitality industry and I feel that they would be first pick…young, beautiful, etc….I know I am qualified for these jobs so I don’t understand. I also have learned that the Facebook marketplace job listings will automatically keep posting every couple of weeks even if the positions are filled….so the deo isn’t even taking in the fact that many of these “online job” offers are duplicates and not even accurate….I am living in a hotel when I can hustle up enough money each day to pay for the night. If I don’t make enough money that day, I sleep on a bench in the airport. My son is staying with my mother n law until I can come up with enough money to rent a place and then desantis takes away the only income I had left…..what a dick….
People need funds to pay thier bills while they hunt for good paying jobs to get out of the whole thier in mr desantos should work for ofree and not pay any bills for his own familly