CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is praising a state Supreme Court decision upholding a lower court’s ruling that the state was legally entitled to opt out of additional federal unemployment benefit programs related to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Justices agreed with the AG's office's arguments that because the federal programs authorizing the payment of additional unemployment benefits under the CARES Act expired on Sept. 6, 2021, the appeal of the lower court’s ruling had been rendered moot.
“Time has shown that the lower court correctly held that the state had no clear legal duty to continue participating in those pandemic-related programs,” Morrisey said in a press release. “We hope that the Supreme Court’s ruling will advance the goal to see that all able-bodied and healthy folks get back to work.
Morrisey
“More fundamentally, the court was correct in acknowledging that the judiciary must respect and uphold the state’s decision on an issue that fell within its legitimate authority and discretion. Such matters must be weighed strictly based on applicable law.”
On September 24, Workforce West Virginia Commissioner Scott Adkins had filed a motion to dismiss the August 24 appeal of petitioners Rebecca Urie and Kimberly Griffith. Senior Deputy AG Brent Wolfenbarger represented Workforce West Virginia.
Urie and Griffith filed lawsuits in July after Gov. Jim Justice ended enhanced benefits early. In August, Kanawha Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers denied an injunction to force Workforce West Virginia to continue to provide benefits.
The August 24 appeal said state law required Workforce to secure all federal unemployment compensation benefits available for the citizens of West Virginia.
"The federal enhanced pandemic unemployment compensation benefits at issue, in this case, are available to West Virginians at no cost to the State of West Virginia," the appeal stated. "By withholding the federal funds from the citizens of our state, Commissioner Adkins is violating his duty, as expressed specifically by the West Virginia Legislature, to 'Guard against the menace to health, morals and welfare arising from unemployment.'"
Urie and Griffith filed the petition for mandamus and the complaint for injunctive relief in an attempt to enforce the state statutes that require Adkins to secure federal pandemic unemployment compensation benefits.
"By prematurely terminating the administration of the benefits, the state has violated the West Virginia Legislature's requirement that Commissioner Adkins secure to this state and its citizens 'all advantages available'... in the federal unemployment system," the plaintiffs wrote in their complaints.
Adkins argued that he was only following Justice's orders. Justice announced he was ordering the federal pandemic unemployment support stopped and the state ceased administering the benefits on June 19.
The petition said the benefits provided by the CARES Act included Pandemic Unemployment Assistance for workers not otherwise eligible for regular unemployment benefits, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation that were supposed to be available through Sept. 6.
The plaintiffs claimed the loss of unemployment compensation benefits has caused them significant stress and worry.
Both Urie and Griffiths were eligible for benefits in all three categories — Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation —and have been unable to work throughout the pandemic.
They are represented by Bren Pomponio and Laura Davidson of Mountain State Justice in Charleston.
West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals case number 21-0681 (Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 21-P-254, 21-P-255)