PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Department of Labor and Training has settled a class action lawsuit filed by the Rhode Island American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island over the department’s process of freezing unemployment claims without notice for thousands of unemployed Rhode Islanders amid a rash of fraudulent claims.
The lawsuit was originally filed in May of 2020. The DLT had paid out millions of dollars in fraudulent unemployment claims during the COVID-19 pandemic, as both legitimate and fraudulent benefit filings soared and benefit eligibility was expended by federal stimulus programs. The freezing of benefits came amid the department’s efforts to mitigate fraud. Many legitimate claims were frozen in this process.
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“We are pleased that DLT has agreed to resolve this case with a long-term solution that will assure that individuals who have legitimate claims to unemployment will get immediate notice of any freeze on their benefits and an effective way to have their benefits restored quickly,” said ACLU attorney Ellen Saideman.
The settlement will establish comprehensive procedures to ensure claimants receive proper notice before benefits are frozen or cut off and requires the DLT to take prompt action to address inquiries about those actions, the ACLU said.
The ACLU noted that following the filing of the lawsuit, the department took interim steps to address the problems caused by its freezing of benefits, including the increase in communication in its notices to individuals whose benefits were suspended, and doubling the staff dedicated to communicating with individuals whose unemployment was frozen or terminated.
In the settlement, the DLT has agreed to provide timely notice about the termination of benefits by email or mail that contains a hyperlink directing the claimant to a resource by which the recipient can verify their identity, as well as a phone number where claimants can call to verify their identification.
The DLT will also advise claimants that the department needs to interview the claimant about their eligibility for unemployment benefits, and set a time frame for the claimant to be heard. If the claimant does not answer, the DLT will follow up at least two additional times.
During the notice process, claimants will continue to receive benefits and individuals will be notified they have a right of appeal to a board of review.
In addition, in a situation in which the DLT is informed that a claimant has returned to work, the DLT will contact the individual to confirm before ending benefits. If the individual fails to respond, the DLT will reach out to the claimant’s employer to confirm. Upon confirmation, the agreed-upon methods for issuing a notice of benefits termination will begin.
The department also agreed to work to make sure that its call center average hold time is no longer than 20 minutes, by ensuring proper staffing, increased hours of operation and the implementation of a call-back system.
The department also paid $145,000 in attorney’s fees, as part of the settlement.
“We are pleased to report that, with great cooperation from DLT, the parties have crafted a solution to the nagging problems that overwhelmed DLT and thousands of people seeking access to their unemployment benefits,” said ACLU attorney Lynette Labinger. “We believe that the agreement provides clear-cut, objective measures to get information to claimants if their approved benefits are being put on hold or stopped and not only provides metrics to ensure that people can get through to DLT, but also a commitment by DLT to follow up if it cannot resolve the problem in the first call.”
