New deadline nears for workers to join pandemic-era lawsuit against UIA

Workers have until Dec. 20 to join a class action lawsuit against the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA).

In Saunders v Unemployment Ins. Agency et al., a $55 million settlement has been negotiated between UIA and affected parties representing those who believe they were wrongly asked to repay pandemic-era unemployment benefits to the UIA. An independent claims administrator will determine who qualifies for payments from the settlement fund.

Workers can go to bwclassactions.com for information about the lawsuit. The new deadline to file a claim, object to the settlement, or opt out is Dec. 20, 2024.

5 things you need to know

1. The Claimant Homepage at Michigan.gov/UIA has information about the settlement, deadlines, court documents, and more.
2. To contact the Settlement Administrator, call 1-866-499-4565 or email info@bwclassactions.com.
3. Log-in to your Michigan Web Account Manager (MiWAM) account to check for a message with the title “Saunders v. UIA Improper Collections Alert.”
4. Resolve problems with MiLOGIN or MiWAM passwords by calling UIA Customer Service at 1-866-500-0017 and selecting Option 7 for Account Access.
5. A final Michigan Court of Claims hearing is scheduled for March 20, 2025.

At issue is millions of dollars in unemployment benefits workers were asked to repay before the UIA could determine whether protests or appeals were submitted on time or at all on a wave of claims filed under federal pandemic programs during the COVID-19 crisis. Those claims overwhelmed the UIA’s legacy MiWAM computer system. The UIA is designing a new computer system called MiUI, which will speed claim filing for workers and tax collection for employers, enhance the overall user experience with a user-friendly design and interface, and feature robust anti-fraud processes to stop bad actors from stealing taxpayer money.

As part of the litigation process, the Court of Claims ordered the UIA to stop collecting on most claims filed on or after March 1, 2020, where a worker may have filed a protest or appeal. The Court of Claims will decide when collections resume.

Under the agreement, UIA is not admitting to liability in the case. Workers who join the settlement must agree to release all claims against the UIA, or they can opt out.

Creating solutions for Michigan’s workers

The settlement is an important turning point as UIA addresses issues that emerged during the national public health crisis. Solutions include launching or expanding helpful tools for workers as they apply for unemployment benefits after losing a job through no fault of their own, such as:

• The UIA Claimant Roadmap, a six-step guide to applying for and understanding benefits. The roadmap is an easy-to-follow, user-friendly resource that can be found at Michigan.gov/UIAClaimantRoadmap.
• Online Coaching Sessions, which are web-based group sessions led by UIA staff on topics such as filing a first-time claim, understanding a Monetary Determination letter, the protest and appeals process, and seeking work and registration requirements.
• Expanding to 14 days in advance the ability to schedule in-person, phone, or virtual appointment times at Michigan.gov/UIA.
• The UIA Community Connect program to provide hands-on help for workers navigating the unemployment insurance application process. Staff across the state also connect workers and employers to UIA’s outreach and education resources.
• Renovating UIA Local Offices in Grand Rapids, Lansing, Saginaw, and Sterling Heights to create an improved user experience and make security upgrades.
• Adding six more advocates to the Advocacy Program to provide free legal help to workers and employers with appeals of UIA redeterminations.

Modernizing, transforming the UIA

The new and expanded tools launched under Director Julia Dale are part of a broad UIA transformation into a national model for fast, fair, and fraud-free service. Other changes include: 

• Launched the UIA Economic Dashboard, a deep dive into underlying trends in unemployment insurance in Michigan. Data provides a rich understanding of the impacts of unemployment across industries, occupations, and communities, and provides insights into which sectors are experiencing layoffs, claimant demographics, and the regions most affected. Access the dashboard at Michigan.gov/UIAEconomicDashboard.
• Formed a coalition of thought leaders from the labor, business, and jobless advocate communities as part of the UIA Modernization Workgroup to provide insight on significant improvements in how the agency can better serve Michigan workers and employers.
• Developed the Employer Help Center, a plain language guide answers employers’ questions on unemployment tax and claim issues and UIA programs. The innovative Help Center can be found at Michigan.gov/UIAEmployerHelpCenter.
• Redesigned the Michigan.gov/UIA website to be optimized for reading on mobile phones or tablets. The website offers answers to frequently asked questions, resources and toolkits. You can also browse UIA’s library of helpful instructional videos on YouTube.
• Created a Legal and Compliance Bureau to leverage collaborative anti-fraud practices to pursue bad actors who steal taxpayer money.
• Extended through June 2025 nearly 80 limited term employees in the Fraud and Investigations Division.
• Required new ethics and security clearance policies for employees and contractors.
• Partnered with the Michigan Department of Attorney General, and local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to stop fraud. Since March 2020, 166 criminals have been charged with unemployment fraud, 125 have been convicted, and 106 sentenced to prison and ordered to pay restitution.
• Scored 100 percent for the third year in a row from the USDOL for employer audits in 2020-22, meeting the reasonable assurance of quality benchmark.
• Reassigned staff and resources to address the largest categories of claims contributing to the agency’s case backlogs.
• Rebuilt the UI Trust Fund to more than $2.8 billion (and growing). Weekly benefits are paid to workers from the Trust Fund, which is supported by taxes on employers.

Need help or have questions about a claim?

Meet with an agent: Schedule an in-person, phone, or virtual meeting at Michigan.gov/UIA.

Chat with an agent: Log into your MiWAM account during normal business hours.

Call Customer Service: 1-866-500-0017 during normal business hours.

Ask Ava: Our chatbot at Michigan.gov/UIA can answer many questions.

Find answers: View FAQs, videos, toolkits, and other resources at Michigan.gov/UIA.