Cooley, NYLAG & The Legal Aid Society Team Up for Pro Bono Class Action Suit
New York – April 18, 2013 – Cooley LLP announced today that it collaborated with the New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) and The Legal Aid Society to reach a settlement in a federal class action lawsuit on behalf of plaintiffs – recipients of Safety Net Assistance (SNA) – against the New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA) and the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA).
On March 22, 2013, the United States Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York approved the negotiated settlement in Hercules v. Doar, and, as a result, more than $3 million in retro-active benefits payments are being issued to the plaintiffs by the city of New York. Specifically, more than 7,000 recipients of SNA in NYC, most of which have children who are minors, will receive retro-payments between $100 and $718. This marks one of the largest settlements for recipients of public assistance benefits in New York.
Cooley, NYLAG and The Legal Aid Society filed the suit in August of 2011 to challenge the unlawful withholding of benefits of the recipients of SNA. SNA recipients' public assistance benefits were reduced or discontinued for excessively long periods when they were sanctioned for alleged violations of the public assistance employment requirements. Due to a computer programming error, which lasted for several years, the HRA and the OTDA issued notices that incorrectly told SNA recipients living with children that they were subject to longer penalties, which are, by law, applicable only to individuals living in households without children.
As a result of the settlement, the HRA and OTDA have corrected their computer systems, modified their sanction notices to include information necessary to allow individuals to challenge the duration of their sanctions, and lifted any improper sanctions currently in effect.
The Cooley pro bono team representing the SNA recipients included litigation partner Jason Koral, and associates Jennifer Lerner and Jennifer Pavane Kenter.
View The Legal Aid Society press release here.
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