The Ohio unemployment lawsuit now pending before the state Supreme Court asks whether Governor Mike DeWine had the legal authority to pull Ohio out of a federal pandemic-era benefits program ten weeks early in 2021, and whether the state can still recover roughly $900 million in unpaid $300-per-week supplements for more than 300,000 workers. The court heard oral arguments on May 20, 2026, and a ruling could take months.
What the Lawsuit Is About
Congress created Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation under the CARES Act in March 2020. The program added money to every eligible worker’s state unemployment check, initially $600 per week and later $300, and it was scheduled to run through September 6, 2021. The federal government paid the entire cost; states participated by agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor.1National Employment Law Project. Unemployment Insurance Provisions in the CARES Act
On May 13, 2021, Governor DeWine announced Ohio would leave the program. The state gave the required 30 days’ notice, and participation ended after the benefit week of June 26, 2021, roughly ten weeks before the federal program closed on its own. The administration said the extra payments were discouraging return to work. Ohio was one of about half the states to end participation early.2Ohio Capital Journal. Ohio Supreme Court Hears Second Round of Arguments Over Pandemic-Era Unemployment Benefits3Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP. A Return to Normal: Ohio’s Pandemic Unemployment Benefits Wind Down
In July 2021, the law firm DannLaw sued on behalf of Ohio workers who had been receiving the $300 supplement. The named plaintiff is Candy Bowling, and the case is State ex rel. Bowling v. DeWine. The attorneys of record are former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann, Brian Flick, and Andrew Engel of Advocate Attorneys. The certified class covers more than 300,000 Ohioans who were eligible for the supplement between the June 26, 2021 cutoff and the program’s federal expiration date.4DannLaw. DannLaw Asks Court to Compel Governor DeWine to Reverse Decision to Cut Off Federal Unemployment Benefits
The Legal Question at the Center of the Case
The plaintiffs argue that Ohio Revised Code Section 4141.43(I), a Depression-era statute, requires the state to cooperate with the U.S. Department of Labor and secure every available federal unemployment benefit for Ohio workers. Under that reading, only the Ohio General Assembly could have authorized withdrawal from FPUC; the governor could not do it on his own.2Ohio Capital Journal. Ohio Supreme Court Hears Second Round of Arguments Over Pandemic-Era Unemployment Benefits
The state responds that FPUC was a voluntary program, that federal rules expressly allowed any governor to withdraw with 30 days’ written notice, and that DeWine was reversing his own earlier decision to opt in. In 2023, the Ohio legislature amended the cooperation statute to clarify that the director of the Department of Job and Family Services is not precluded from ceasing participation in voluntary federal programs. The state argues that amendment moots the dispute.2Ohio Capital Journal. Ohio Supreme Court Hears Second Round of Arguments Over Pandemic-Era Unemployment Benefits
Lower courts have twice sided with the workers. In February 2025, Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Michael Holbrook granted partial summary judgment for the plaintiffs and ordered the governor and the Department of Job and Family Services to take “all action necessary” to reinstate Ohio’s FPUC participation retroactively from June 26, 2021, and to pursue roughly $900 million from the U.S. Department of Labor.5The Vindicator. Judge Orders Reinstatement of Federal Pandemic Program The Tenth District Court of Appeals upheld that order, and the Ohio Supreme Court agreed in October 2025 to review the appeal.6Ohio State News. Ohio Supreme Court to Decide if DeWine Could Close $300 Weekly Pandemic Check Program Early
The $900 Million and Whether It Still Exists
The class seeks about $900 million, representing the $300-per-week supplements more than 300,000 eligible Ohioans would have received between late June and early September 2021. If the workers ultimately prevail and the money is paid out, individuals who were unemployed during that window would qualify for an additional $300 per week for the affected period.7Spectrum News 1. Ohio Supreme Court Weighs Pandemic Unemployment Benefits Case
Whether the federal funds are still available is heavily contested. The plaintiffs point to an affidavit from a Department of Labor official, filed in the case, stating that as of July 2024 the money remains available. They argue Congress appropriated the FPUC funds without a fiscal-year limitation, so the appropriation sits in the federal treasury until spent for its intended purpose. They also cite a September 2021 email from Jim Garner, then DOL’s Administrator of the Office of Unemployment Insurance, laying out procedures for states to retroactively re-enroll claimants in pandemic unemployment programs if ordered to do so by a court. As of April 2025, DOL officials told the House Ways and Means Committee that Garner’s guidance is “still valid and in effect.”8Signal Ohio. Ohio Supreme Court Takes Case of $900 Million in Unclaimed Pandemic Unemployment Money9U.S. House Ways and Means Committee. Letter to DOL Regarding Ohio FPUC Lawsuit
The state is skeptical. Solicitor General Mathura Sridharan told the justices that trying to revive a program that expired five years ago is a “waste of judicial resources” and expressed doubt that the money is still sitting at the Department of Labor waiting to be claimed.6Ohio State News. Ohio Supreme Court to Decide if DeWine Could Close $300 Weekly Pandemic Check Program Early
Where the Case Stands After the May 2026 Arguments
On May 20, 2026, the Ohio Supreme Court heard its second round of oral arguments. Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy opened by asking why the case was back before the court at all, given that an earlier version had been dismissed as moot in November 2022.10Athens Messenger. Ohio Supreme Court Hears Second Round of Arguments Over Pandemic-Era Unemployment Benefits
Sridharan urged the court to dismiss again, calling the case “quintessentially moot.” Andrew Engel, arguing for the plaintiffs, focused on the separation-of-powers question: “What we’re saying is under Ohio law, that process did not include the governor making a unilateral decision.”2Ohio Capital Journal. Ohio Supreme Court Hears Second Round of Arguments Over Pandemic-Era Unemployment Benefits The justices reportedly pressed both sides on whether the federal funds remain available. A ruling could take months.7Spectrum News 1. Ohio Supreme Court Weighs Pandemic Unemployment Benefits Case
What a Ruling for Workers Would Actually Do
A win at the Ohio Supreme Court would not put checks in anyone’s hands directly. The court would affirm the lower court’s order requiring the governor and the Department of Job and Family Services to petition the U.S. Department of Labor for the unclaimed funds and to reinstate Ohio’s FPUC participation retroactively. Whether DOL then releases the money is a separate federal question.
Congressional Republicans have moved to close that door. In June 2025, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, Subcommittee Chairman Darin LaHood, and Ohio Representatives Mike Carey and Max Miller sent a letter to Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer asking the department to issue formal guidance stating that it is “prohibited by law from obligating federal funds for payment of retroactive CARES Act unemployment benefits.” The lawmakers argued that the lower court’s ruling relied on “informal Biden Administration guidance” and warned of potential retroactive payments to fraudsters due to a lack of eligibility documentation.11U.S. House Ways and Means Committee. Ways and Means Members Call on Labor Department to Prevent Retroactive Pandemic Unemployment Payments12The Washington Times. GOP Aims to Stop Retroactive Pandemic Unemployment Payments
If the court sides with the governor instead, the case ends. The roughly $900 million stays in the federal treasury, and Ohioans who lost the $300 supplement after June 26, 2021 receive nothing.
Why Ohio’s Case Is the Only One Left
At least 15 states were sued in the summer of 2021 after ending their federal unemployment programs early. Every other case has been dismissed. Indiana’s appellate court ruled state law did not mandate participation. A Florida judge held the decision “belongs solely to the state’s chief executive.” Arkansas’s supreme court overturned an injunction, and the New Hampshire Supreme Court unanimously found the only legal obligation was the 30 days’ notice the governor had already given. A Maryland judge temporarily blocked termination, but the program expired before that case could be resolved.13Courthouse News Service. State Appeals Court Rules Indiana Can Stop Pandemic Unemployment Payments14NBC Miami. Florida Judge Denies Request to Reinstate Federal Unemployment Benefits15New Hampshire Bulletin. NH Supreme Court Rules in State’s Favor on Federal Unemployment Benefits Lawsuit
What has kept Ohio’s case alive is the specific language of the state’s Depression-era cooperation statute, which two levels of Ohio courts have now read as requiring the government to pursue every available federal unemployment benefit. No other state court reached that conclusion on the merits. Whichever way the Ohio Supreme Court rules, its decision will be the first definitive high-court answer to whether a state cooperation statute can override a governor’s unilateral withdrawal from a voluntary federal benefits program.