On June 5, 2020, the Sheridan Law Firm in Seattle, WA filed a petition for a writ of mandamus with the Supreme Court of the State of Washington. The writ asks the Court to compel the Employment Security Department (ESD) to process unemployment benefit claims and make claim payments to Washington’s unemployed in a timely manner as required by law. The ESD did not have the legal authority to forestall and stop payments to thousands of legitimate and qualified claimants as it fell victim to an imposter fraud investigation. ESD, while seeking to verify claimant identities, did so through inept and unsecured channels which has caused further delay in benefit payments and harm to the claimants. This is not a class action lawsuit. If the court rules in favor of the petitioners, it will impact all claimants who are waiting for their claim to be processed. The Unemployment Law Project (ULP) is a party to the filing because we are a non-profit legal services office that serves to protect workers’ rights and represents workers who are denied unemployment benefits or whose benefits were initially approved but later challenged by the employer. ULP is not representing claimants in this matter but is supporting the petition by taking declarations from claimants who are waiting for payments to be made. For more information, please call us at (206) 441-9178 or toll free at 1 (888) 441-9178. Please note we are experiencing high call volumes at this time.
You can read Sheridan’s arguments and the declarations in the case and news stories about the writ at Sheridan’s website.
Learn more: https://www.opb.org/news/article/washington-state-unemployment-benefits-delays-coronavirus-lawsuit/