A federal judge has ordered Wisconsin to give back pay to disabled workers who were denied unemployment over the past decade.
The case also found that a “blanket denial” of unemployment payments to Wisconsinite receiving Social Security disability payments violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The August order from federal Western District Court Judge William Conley requires the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development to create a process for potentially thousands of residents who were denied unemployment between September 7, 2015 and July 30, 2025.
The exclusion in the state’s unemployment law dates back to laws passed in 2013 and 2015 that were signed by former Gov. Scott Walker. The 2013 law dictated that residents can’t simultaneously collect both Social Security Disability Insurance benefits, known as SSDI, and Unemployment Insurance benefits, or UI. The 2015 law added slight modifications, specifying that disabled individuals couldn’t get unemployment benefits in any week in which they also received Social Security payments.
In a statement, DWD Communications Director Haley McCoy said the agency has begun processing new unemployment claims from people who are receiving disability payments through Social Security since July of this year, when Judge Conley issued an injunction.