Six unemployed Georgians are suing the Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) for its failure to process their unemployment claims.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Georgia, Lisa English was a contracted bookkeeper for a retail company in Fulton County. She was laid off for eight weeks because of the public health shutdowns and applied for unemployment benefits.
English said she spoke to a GDOL representative who wanted to confirm her status as a contracted worker, but she has not heard or received anything else from the state agency since late March.
A few months later, English was laid off permanently. As a result, English lost her home and the ability to regain custody of her son, who has special needs. She now lives with a friend in Rockdale County and picks up some bookkeeping gigs now and then.