Catherwood LibraryILR School

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the Alabama Supreme Court wrongly denied 21 petitioners the right to sue over delayed unemployment benefits during the pandemic. The majority opinion, written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh and joined by both conservative and liberal justices, found that Alabama’s legal requirement to exhaust administrative remedies before suing created an unfair legal barrier. The ruling overturns the state court’s decision, which had relied on state law to reject the claims. In dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas argued that the ruling improperly interferes with state authority. The case will now return to lower courts for further proceedings.