By Ben Solis
Gogwer News Service
The Unemployment Insurance Agency, its director and two of its employees asked a federal judge to at last dismiss the due process violation claims in a years-old lawsuit brought by the United Auto Workers, court records show.
Meanwhile, the plaintiffs in Kreps v. UIA (USEDM Docket No. 22-12020) are awaiting a ruling on their own motion for partial summary judgment on the core legal issues, which seeks to declare the UIA's practice of suspending benefits without pre-termination notice, and without an opportunity to be heard, as a violation of the Due Process Clause (See Gongwer Michigan Report, August 29, 2024).
The plaintiffs also recently asked U.S. District Court Judge Mark Goldsmith, Eastern District of Michigan, to certify the plaintiffs as a class moving forward.
The UIA and Director Juila Dale, along with Kimberly Berry, director of the Tax & Employment Services Division, and Teresa Burns, a division administrator, are the named defendants on the lawsuit. They jointly asked Goldsmith for summary disposition because there was no issue of material fact that the plaintiffs failed to establish that a due process violation had occurred.
The motion, which was filed earlier this month, also argues a previous settlement violation claim by the UAW should also fail because there was no issue of material fact and that the UAW failed to comply with the settlement agreement's notice provision.
The defendants also argued they were each entitled to qualified immunity and that they had no personal involvement in the alleged unconstitutional conduct and cannot be held liable.
They asked Goldsmith to deny the declaratory relief requested in the initial lawsuit because the remedy was inappropriate, and to overall abstain from issuing finding on the plaintiff's claims because there were ongoing parallel proceedings regarding improper collection in state court.
The requested injunctive relief was also an extraordinary remedy and should be denied, the motion said.
As for the plaintiffs, they are still waiting for Goldsmith to rule on their own motion for partial summary judgment, which was filed in early August.
The plaintiffs this month asked for class certification on two of the counts in the lawsuit for all unemployment claimants who have suffered suspension of benefits for 21 days or more after a determination of eligibility without an agency determination or redetermination of the reason to suspend the benefits, court records show.
"The defendants … operating under the color of state law have conspired to operate and continue an unconstitutional flagging system, resulting in indefinite suspension of timely benefits for claimants before termination of benefits and without issuing a determination," the motion states.
Goldsmith has yet to rule on the on the motions.
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