Bank of America Corp must work to resolve claims that it improperly blocked Californians who receive unemployment insurance from accessing funds during the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco ruled on Monday that the cardholders were likely to succeed in a proposed class action alleging the bank had failed to adequately investigate complaints about fraudulent charges on cards used to collect unemployment benefits and instead simply frozen the accounts.
“Continued denial of these benefits will seriously hinder the ability of many class members to feed their families and keep a roof over their heads,” Chhabria wrote in ruling on a motion for a temporary injunction.
The judge said he would enter an injunction after the bank, represented by Goodwin Procter, and the plaintiffs, represented by Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy and Altshuler Berzon, work together on solutions that would let the bank combat potential fraud while keeping benefits flowing.
