Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
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.
Don’t Miss Out!
Check out our list of Class Action Lawsuits and Class Action Settlements you may qualify to join!
Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:
Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Subaru vehicle data collection class action lawsuit investigation
May 17, 2024 | Legal News
75 thoughts onFlorida Hit With Class Action Lawsuit for Ending Federal Unemployment Payments
I am unemployed due to covid and also had covid. I would like to be involved in lawsuit.
I, too, got dinged for overpayment this month. Then when I got to answer the questions, the website does not allow me to complete the dollar amounts that I have repayed (in an obvious effort to keep me repaying). Screw DeSantis and his smug-@$$ dictatorial ways. I have been consistently outspoken about the way he handles things in this state. He is NOT a medical expert, teacher, election expert, or an epidemiologist—–he is a thief and pompous person.
As if It wasn’t bad enough for Florida’s unemployed being one of, if not the lowest paying states for unemployment. benefits.Now our Joke of a gov. ends the federal $300 a week payments.Whats wrong with this guy?Opens the state prematurely and then downplays the severity of the explosion in new cases, hospitalized cases and deaths.Threatens to cut pay to school superintendents who mandate mask in schools.Cant something be done to this thoughtless man?I too would like to be included in the class action suet.
I am 67 years old, with a masters degree. My agency at Catholic Charities was closed due to Covid. I apply every week for work but I suspect I have not found work due to my age and experience. The 300 extra dollars helped me to scrape by. Now I am at my wits end financially. I couldn’t believe when our governor withheld the additional federal funds. I would welcome joining the class action law suit. This state’s governor is not helping the people of Florida with unemployment nor doing what he can to curb Covid by masking kids to keep them as safe as he can. He is a disgrace.
I am 67 years old, with a masters degree. My agency at Catholic Charities was closed due to Covid. I apply every week for work but I suspect I have not found work due to my age and experience. The 300 extra dollars helped me to scrape by. Now I am at NY wits end financially. I couldn’t believe when our governor withheld the additional federal funds. I would welcome joining the class action law suit. This state’s governor is not helping the people of Florida with unemployment nor doing what he can to curb Covid by masking kids to keep them as safe as he can. He is a disgrace.
The governor of Florida, only cares about his own pockets. He should be forced out of office and put in prison, He messed up the whole covid 19 safety precautions. Just to make money from spring break, putting millions of people’s lives at risk. Then the whole delay in unemployment benefits blaming the software, that software should of been updated long before pandemic. So once again filling his pockets.. then no mask orders or stay at home orders. Purposely killing citizens of Florida and else where. Then spring break again. ” Manslaughter” at least 100,000 count’s. Then fraud and theft for financially hurting people, causing homelessness, illnesses, suicides, and personal loss of all possessions. Due to the governor’s greed and ignorance. He intentionally allows a corrupt law enforcement to destroys life’s while he sits back and praise’s the sheriff for putting innocent people in jail just to close case’s. Not one agency of the government will ever return calls or emails unless they are threatening the people. The entire Florida government uses intimidation tactics forcing the citizens to fear their freedom, thier livelihood and even lives. And if you try to go to federal government for help,. They will threaten your freedom. And it all starts at the governor,. He hurt the people so can law enforcement perjuring them selves to prosocuters who don’t care either, they just want to climb the ladder, just like the governor wants to fill his pockets. The state of Florida and all government agencies down to street cops need investigated and put in prison. But somehow the complaints, emails, letters and phone calls from Floridians get lost, ignored, and threatened from the government agencies in Florida. And you must follow chain of command for complaints,. So what are the citizens of Florida to do? Except loose everything, in one form or another.
I’m not interested in unemployment benefits, I’m afraid for my own mortality, my husband’s and my 15 year old daughter’s! By our Governor’s choice to “feather his nest” by allowing tourism and boasting “we don’t need to force you to wear a mask or get the vaccine” he is putting my family in direct harm and danger! I’d like to know if he indeed is vaccinated? He’s got 2 young children, what if 1 gets the virus and perished. Would that make him change his mind? Would that change any of his stupid decisions?
All of my neighbors have the virus. 1 has passed away from it! They all regret not getting vaccinated when they should have, and are now waiting to get well enough to be eligible. I think and feel that our Governor should be sued for this!!!! I am looking around for an attorney to start a class action law suit or just represent me and my family. If anyone knows about class action please notify me! I’m all in!
I have been locked out of DEO (FL) Acct- May To Aug 2021. Complete All Request- IDme (Video) Verification. Received Letter DEO Data Security Breach- Loan Apps Now Being Made In My Name By Unknown Sources. I lost 60 Points Credit Score… Top It Off- NO ONE will return phone calls, Sent Many Many Tickets IDme, Left Many VM Messages DEO (FL) Unemployment From May to Aug 2021 – NOT ONE RETURN PHONE CALL !!! I even sent a Letter To Ron DeSantis “Direct Letter” To His Office- NO RESPONSE !!! THE BIG QUESTION- WHEN ARE WE GOING TO GET PAID? LOCKED ACCOUNTS- UNABLE TO REPORT WEEKS TO BE PAID BENEFITS !!! Welcome the opportunity to join “Class Action” Please Contact Me.
I don’t know what me and my four kids are going to do im facing eviction I was depending on those bonus payments to get me out of the hole i could cry rivers my rent is up 1232$ im a single mom i have ydt to get any child support God please send us an angel
I have sent many emails to the governor and his cabinet. As well as the DEO and DEO help email accounts their automated reply misspelled their own URL for help. But then the help they give is screen shots of how to fill out forms I have already filed. I have been emailing the DEO for weeks and have gotten no response even checked the spam file. Now they are using a for profit company to verify identities called ID.me it took four hours five different government documents and a zoom call to where I had to hold up my DL front and back so the person living in Philadelphia could confirm my identity. Now I still cannot log in to the DEO website to set up the final steps of linking the information ID.me collected and the site where I have to claim unemployment weeks. I’ve already missed the deadline and I can loose my benefits because I have not responded.
I WANT TO JOIN!
I have been locked out for weeks now because hackers got into the system. I’ve tried to clear things up with those ID me folks and thats a joke. I sent them photos of every piece of ID I have including my VA ID. Its a shame I have to fight for this 84 dollars a week. I was getting 125 a week which I thought was the minimum and then they lowered my payment and tell me I owe money back. The system was and is intended to fail and make people give up. My cousin is still waiting for payments from March 2020. Her account says payable for weeks but nothing has ever been paid. She has filed escalated reports every 30 days for months and now she can’t because they fired the extra help DEO had and they don’t answer the phone. She calls every day for 6 weeks at least. The taxpayers of Florida got the shift on the original 77 million was spent for a broken system. They wonder why this country is broke.
Yes. This was blatant disregard for all unemployed Floridians. To top it off I received an email telling me that I was locked out of my connect login due to a security breach, no fault of my own, it has effected almost 57,000 of us. I’m unable to reach the DOE via connect login and 4 different phone numbers, and I’m not alone! As of today I am behind claiming 4 weeks worth of benefits. Where do I sign?
Remove Governor to Santos once other states approved the unemployment Florida we will get ours too. I hope he didn’t spend it because then that will be unemployment fraud