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A quick update of the FPUC case. After a hearing on the afternoon of February 24, Judge Holbrook issued a stay  of his earlier decision in which he ordered the state to obtain the FPUC funds from the U.S. Department of Labor. You may read the order here. We will of course appeal this decision.

Separately, we have asked the Tenth District Court of Appeals for an order requiring the Governor to send a letter to the Federal Government requesting the money.  That motion will be fully briefed on Monday March 3, one week from today. We are hopeful that the Court of Appeals will see things differently than Judge Holbrook.

We have no idea why the Governor continues to refuse to ask for and at the very least secure the $900 Million in benefits owed to 330,000 Ohioans.  Nothing in Judge Holbrook’s stay prevents him from asking for the money right now.  The State’s right to appeal won’t be prejudiced and the state will be protected from the risk that if the federal dollars are reappropriated we would take action to obtain the money from the State of Ohio.

We hope the Governor reconsiders.  Please keep encouraging him to do so.

We expect the Court of Appeals to consider this matter on an expedited basis.

Hearing is critical juncture in the battle to secure benefits owed to 300,000 Ohioans

In a hearing scheduled for 1:30 PM today in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, the attorneys who represent thousands of Ohioans unjustly denied nearly $1 billion in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) benefits by the state will ask Judge Michael Holbrook to deny the state’s motion to stay his February 12 ruling in favor of the plaintiffs and order Governor Mike DeWine to immediately take steps to reinstate Ohio’s participation in the FPUC program. The motion, filed by DannLaw and Zimmerman Law Offices may be viewed and downloaded here.

“It is difficult, if not impossible, to understand why the state continues to fight a battle it lost decisively in both the trial and appellate court,” Marc Dann said. “The governor’s stated reason for pulling out of the program, that the benefits would serve as a disincentive for people to rejoin the workforce, was specious when he asserted it in 2021 and no longer exists in 2025.”

“There is absolutely no legal or policy reason why nearly $1 billion in federal funds should be sitting dormant in an account in Washington, D.C. when they could and should be flowing into the hands of Ohio families and fueling this state’s economy,” Dann continued. “Our motion asks Judge Holbrook to end the state’s defiance of his order as well as the delaying tactics that put the funds at risk of being repurposed by Congress and the Trump administration.”

In the motion, the legal team asserts that state and federal law governing the unemployment system trump the state’s right to a stay under Ohio’s Civil Rules of procedure:

Ohioans’ right to those benefits are created, defined, and regulated by statute–both federal and state. And as set forth in R.C. 4141.28(I), part of that right is to receive payment of employment compensation benefits promptly after a court renders a determination of entitlement to those benefits.

In its Order And Entry, this Court stated: “There is no question that plaintiffs were eligible

for FPUC benefits at the time defendants terminated its FPUC termination [sic].” Order And Entry, p. 10. The Court went on to state “there is also no question of fact and that plaintiffs are entitled to a writ of mandamus restoring Ohio’s participation in the FPUC program and resulting benefits as a matter of law.” Id., p. 11. In other words, this Court’s Order and Entry constitutes a determination that Plaintiffs were entitled to receive the available FPUC benefits after the State withdrew from the program.

 Pursuant to R.C. 4141.28(I), the State is under an affirmative statutory duty to immediately

pay those benefits notwithstanding its appeal. The State cannot rely on a Civil Rule of Procedure to curtail Plaintiffs’ substantive statutory right to prompt payment.

DannLaw, Zimmerman Law Offices file motion after state appeals Common Pleas Court ruling ordering the state to secure and distribute $900,000,000 in federal FPUC funds

Reacting to the state of Ohio’s decision to appeal Judge Michael Holbrook’s ruling in favor of thousands of Ohioans unjustly denied nearly $1 billion in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) benefits, attorneys from DannLaw and Zimmerman Law Offices today asked the Tenth District Court of appeals to order Governor Mike DeWine and the Ohio Department of Jobs and Families Services (ODJFS) to take all action necessary to obtain the funds from the U.S. Department of Labor and deposit them with the Clerk of Franklin County Common Pleas Court. The motion is designed to ensure that the funds will continue to be available as the state’s appeal proceeds. You may read and download the motion here: Bowling Candy 2025 02 20 Motion for Injunction WITH EXHIBITS

“Once the funds are deposited with the Clerk of Courts, they will be available for distribution to Ohioans who need and deserve them when we ultimately prevail,” Marc Dann said. “If, for some reason, our victory is overturned, the money will simply be sent back to the federal government. Given the current status of the case, what we are proposing is the most equitable path forward.”

In the motion the plaintiff’s argue that “time is of the essence and there is a compelling need for this Court to grant injunctive relief to prevent manifest injustice because federal policymakers have publicly expressed their intent to use unspent pandemic emergency money for other causes.”

“Congress is already talking about using unspent COVID relief dollars as part of a deal to raise the debt ceiling and the DOGE crew is turning over rocks to find and repurpose unspent money,” Dann explained. “The governor can preserve the FPUC funds with the stroke of a pen by signing a letter to the Department of Labor requesting the money.”

“Of course, he could use the same pen to abide by the orders Judge Holbrook issued on February 12. Even though he and the Tenth District Court ruled that the Governor has a legal obligation to secure and distribute these funds to eligible Ohioans, he continues to fight against the people he was elected to serve,” Dann said. “Because he refuses to do the right thing voluntarily, we are forced to protect our clients by asking the Court of Appeals to order him to do so.”

The motion notes that the Appellate Court has “…the power to issue an ‘affirmative injunction’ as necessary to “prevent manifest and extreme injustice where all or some part of those rights [obtained by the trial court’s judgment] will otherwise be irrevocably lost to appellee, and the appellant has little or nothing to lose.”

“That certainly applies in this case. Our clients could lose $900,000,000 while the state has no real interest in the FPUC funds and are merely the conduit that passes the money from the federal government to Ohioans,” Dann said. “The state’s continued defiance of court orders and refusal to abide by their legal obligation to secure these funds makes injunctive relief appropriate and absolutely necessary.”

In their motion the plaintiffs ask for an order that directs the Defendants to:

(1) take all action necessary to reinstate Ohio’s participation in the FPUC program from June 26, 2021 through its expiration;

(2) to take all action necessary to obtain Ohio’s share of FPUC program benefits from the U.S. Department of Labor;

(3) deposit the FPUC program benefits with the Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, Franklin County Ohio, pending resolution of this appeal; and

(4) for all other relief this Court may deem just and proper.

For additional information please contact Marc Dann at 330-651-3131