The Cole County Circuit Court sided with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office in our defense of the Governor’s termination of federal pandemic-related unemployment benefits.
“As Missouri’s economy continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses are still struggling to hire workers for a large number of open, available jobs. Too often, businesses can’t compete with the steady stream of federal benefits,” said Attorney General Schmitt. “Today’s ruling affirmed the legality of Governor Parson’s decision to terminate these temporary benefits and will hopefully lead to the hiring of workers for businesses that desperately need the help.”
On May 11, 2021, Governor Mike Parson directed the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to notify the United States Department of Labor that Missouri was voluntarily ending participation in federal pandemic-related unemployment benefits, effective June 13, 2021. A lawsuit was filed against that decision shortly thereafter. Earlier this morning, the Cole County Circuit Court sided with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office in that lawsuit.
The Court’s ruling, which denies the Plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction, states, “Plaintiffs have failed to show a probability of success on the merits.” The Court finds that the Employment Security Law or the Declaratory Judgment Act, which the plaintiffs base their request for declaratory relief on, do not support or affirm the Plaintiffs’ arguments.
The full judgment can be found at this link.
