Court rules Nevada has to immediately pay some gig workers

Tuesday marked the day when Nevada’s employment department was to begin paying some independent contractors and self-employed workers, but Tuesday didn’t come for many.

A Nevada judge signed an order last week mandating the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation to resume paying self-employed and independent workers workers who previously received benefits before the state froze their funds. He ordered those payments to begin Tuesday.

Yet, that hasn’t happened for a number of claimants who were expecting a deposit to hit their accounts, according to attorney Mark Thierman.

“A few people are getting paid. Most are not,” Thierman said Tuesday. His firm, Thierman Buck, is representing self-employed and independent workers in a lawsuit filed in May against DETR. Since the judge’s order, he said, he has heard from workers indicating their pay dates are getting bumped back, some to Aug. 3.

He said he planned to wait for the judge to weigh in during a follow-up court hearing Thursday before determining what to do next.

“I don’t know where this money’s going. It’s not going to our people,” he said.

Self-employed and independent workers are eligible for unemployment benefits under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which was created in March under the federal $2 trillion coronavirus relief package known as the CARES Act.

Unless a PUA claimant has excessive earnings or no weekly filings, or the department “has clear and convincing evidence of fraud, then payments may not be stopped,” District Court Judge Barry Breslow said. The state cannot halt payments outside of those reasons or without the beneficiary getting a chance to respond to the state’s explanations for a halt.

A DETR spokeswoman provided a statement Tuesday when asked questions about the payments and judge’s order.

“DETR is actively working with the vendor to comply with the court’s order and support Nevadans during this difficult time,” the statement read.

Steve Reed still didn’t have a payment in his account by Wednesday. Reed, who turned 69 last week, was hoping Breslow’s order would cause DETR to resume paying his frozen benefits as a birthday present. He is confused and frustrated.

“I fit the letter of that order to a T,” Reed said.

The out-of-work photographer said he tried, to no avail, calling DETR all week to make sure his claim would be among those getting paid Tuesday.

“They throw out this, ‘And if it doesn’t work, just call us back,’ as if that can be done,” the Las Vegas Valley resident said. “If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by Mars.”

Tuesday would’ve been too late for Mark Hancock, even if DETR resumed paying his frozen funds on the deadline day. He will be evicted Saturday.

The Las Vegas Valley resident said he understands his frozen payments to be the result of a glitch caused by DETR implementing anti-fraud software at the end of June.

“That problem has cost me a place to live and has really changed my life in the last week,” Hancock said.

Hancock said he filed for PUA on May 16 and received a total of three payments beginning June 10.

“I thought I was home-free,” he said. “I thought I was one of the lucky ones.”

Instead, his account froze a couple of weeks later. He has started selling his things on Craigslist, and he will be homeless for the second time in his life come Saturday. His adoptive parents both died when he was in his early teens, and he experienced homelessness.

After his eviction, he will sleep on a friend’s couch for a week or so. After that, he’s not sure.

“Who do I talk to, because I’ve already won the court case?” he said. “The court case was supposed to fix this.”

The judge also ordered DETR to consider eligible PUA claimants who were working fewer hours because of the COVID-19 pandemic but hadn’t completely ceased working. The department previously denied those workers’ claims.

Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @mike_shoro on Twitter.