Pro Bono Client Obtains Victory in VOLS Unemployment Insurance Case

Paul, Weiss obtained a victory in an unemployment insurance appeal with pro bono partner Volunteers of Legal Service (VOLS). As a participant in the VOLS Unemployment Insurance Advocacy Project, the firm represents clients whose employers have objected to their receipt of unemployment insurance benefits.

In this most recent case, the New York State Department of Labor initially held that our client committed misconduct during the course of her employment and therefore was not entitled to unemployment benefits. The Department of Labor also held that our client had made an affirmative misstatement to obtain benefits and was therefore disqualified from receiving benefits in the future. On appeal, however, the administrative law judge credited our client's testimony and concluded that she lost her job under non-disqualifying conditions and that she had not made a misstatement to the Department of Labor. Accordingly, the judge overruled the Department of Labor's denial of benefits and awarded our client unemployment insurance benefits.

The matter was handled by litigation associate Peter Hering and supervised by litigation partner Christopher Boehning.