Community Engagement Legal Clinic

Inzinga v. New York State Department of Labor is a federal lawsuit filed in 2021 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York.

The case challenged the New York State Department of Labor (NYDOL)’s determination that thousands of school employees, including bus drivers, aides, paraprofessionals, clerical workers, and other educational employees were ineligible for unemployment benefits during the summer of 2020 because they allegedly had “reasonable assurance” of returning to work in fall 2020.

The plaintiffs argued that many educational employees were improperly denied benefits and wrongly told they owed repayment of unemployment and pandemic-related benefits received during the COVID-19 crisis. The plaintiffs were represented by Empire Justice Center and the University at Buffalo School of Law Community Engagement Legal Clinic. Under the settlement agreement, the Department of Labor has agreed to important relief for affected workers. You can see details about it in the letter you received from NYSDOL.

The settlement relief is expected to apply to approximately 5,300 New York educational employees, including both: Non-professional educational employees (such as aides, paraprofessionals, bus drivers, monitors, clerical staff, and similar personnel); and Professional educational employees. The settlement applies only to benefits received for weeks of unemployment during summer 2020 (approximately June–September 2020). Generally, no action is required. If you would like to verify your account balance, you may contact the New York State Department of Labor’s automated UI Benefits Collection line at (800) 533-6600.