LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A judge has set a deadline of July 30 at 10 a.m. for Nevada's employment department (DETR) to share what progress the department has made paying out Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) to claimants in the state, and says new payments unlocked by this order must be paid in five business days.
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Judge Barry L. Breslow began his remarks on Monday by thanking both sides for their cases and keeping things respectful.
He went on to say the threat of fraud is real and the Nevada PUA system is vulnerable, but also said the court found significant delays in the processing of PUA claims.
Judge Breslow believes DETR has used it discretion to the best if it’s ability citing the appeals process as an example. @KTNV
— Jeremy Chen (@JeremyChenKTNV) July 20, 2020
Judge Breslow went on to say he believes DETR has been “somewhat” arbitrary and capricious, abusing its discretion for PUA claims, citing issues with rideshare drivers specifically. He said they should be paid PUA benefits after suffering a significant business loss but haven’t entirely ceased operations.
“We’re not going to penalize people under the CARES Act because they tried to maintain some level of subsistence income while they wait for the economy to right itself or otherwise have benefits available," he said.
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He said DETR shouldn't stop PUA payments after starting them except in the following cases: the applicant didn't file a weekly claim, the claimant is making too much money to qualify, or there's clear and convincing evidence of fraud.
Judges says some errors have been made. Mentions the issue of a Lyft or Uber driver being denied benefits because they haven’t completely stopped operations. He says that is wrong. @KTNV
— Jeremy Chen (@JeremyChenKTNV) July 20, 2020
Judge Breslow says payments released by his order must be paid to claimants by July 28.
Video of Monday's hearing and the decision can be found here.
