Despite Tuesday’s court-ordered deadline, PUA payments still delayed

It may take until Monday, at the earliest, for some independent contractors and self-employed workers with frozen unemployment insurance benefits to again receive payments, according to Nevada’s employment agency.

The Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation indicated in a Thursday court hearing it is working to pay those workers under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, but the process to do so takes time.

A Nevada judge ordered the department last week to begin payments on Tuesday to all workers, with some exceptions for eligibility and fraud, who previously received PUA benefits but then had them frozen. State attorney Greg Ott said more than 30,600 people claims fall were frozen, but about 3,000 appear legitimate and could resume receiving benefits next week.

“The earliest possible date, I believe, would be Monday,” Employment Security Division Administrator Kimberly Gaa told the Second Judicial District Court. She said that she wasn’t sure when all “batches” of claims would be released, as the process to approve these payments would typically take between one or two weeks to pay.

Judge Barry Breslow scheduled Thursday’s hearing to to determine whether DETR is complying with his order and getting money into the hands of those who are eligible. Breslow also ordered DETR last week to consider eligible gig workers who worked fewer hours but had completely stopped working due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But Ott said Thursday the department was now paying all eligible workers who fall into that category.

The hearing was part of a lawsuit filed in May on behalf of gig workers seeking immediate payment of pending PUA claims.

Though DETR did not make Breslow’s Tuesday payment deadline, he said he was so far “pleased” with the department’s efforts to comply with his order.

Still, the judge said he was concerned claims were taking too long to process.

“Whether that concern rises to the level that the court finds that DETR is abusing its discretion or otherwise is failing to comply with its obligations under the law, we’re not there yet on these other issues, but they’re still in play,” Breslow said.

He ordered a special hearing master, attorney Jason Guinasso, to work with DETR and the plaintiffs to identify just how much progress DETR is making.

Guinasso, of Hutchison & Steffen attorneys, is set to produce a report in about two weeks on his findings. He suggested mediating ongoing conversations between DETR and the plaintiffs to ensure compliance and discuss the best ways to address the backlog.

“I think everybody’s shared interest, whether it’s DETR or the plaintiffs or the court, is to get people paid,” he said.

Guinasso previously produced a 310-page report during the proceedings detailing “bottlenecks” in processing claims.

The judge set another hearing for Aug. 20 at 9:30 a.m. to follow up on DETR’s efforts and determine whether he should change his current order or issue another order, in the form of a writ of mandamus.

About 75,000 PUA claims are instead eligible for traditional unemployment benefits, according to DETR. Gaa said the department would send out messages informing those PUA claimants they still needed to file for traditional benefits.

The attorney representing the gig workers, Mark Thierman, expressed frustration with the department. He argued the state hadn’t done enough to “get out of the box” for people stuck in limbo between the two benefits programs. DETR should err on the side of eligibility and emphasize payments, he said.

“The presumption is on the wrong side,” Thierman said.

The law firm representing gig workers, Thierman Buck, asked the judge to hold DETR in contempt for failure to pay claims, but Breslow decided to hold off on that Thursday. Breslow said he could revisit the idea if it appears DETR is willfully failing to follow his order after the Aug. 20 hearing, but that’s the “least appealing approach.”

“I want to avoid that at all costs,” Breslow said. “The alternative is much preferable to all involved.”

Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @mike_shoro on Twitter.