U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos stands during a press briefing on March 27, 2020. She and the Education Department are targets of a class action lawsuit, filed on Friday, charging her with illegally seizing student loan borrowers' wages in violation of the CARES Act. File Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI |
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May 1 (UPI) -- The Department of Education and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos face a class-action lawsuit demanding a stop to garnishment of student borrowers' wages.
The suit was filed late Thursday in District of Columbia federal court on behalf of borrowers whose paychecks continue to be garnished for student loans, a violation of the CARES Act. The law, signed by President Donald Trump on March 27, is the $2 trillion economic relief package protecting Americans from the public health and economic impacts of COVID-19, and prohibits garnishment of wages of student borrowers through Sept. 30, 2020.
The organizations Student Defense and the National Consumer Law Center filed the lawsuit on behalf of about 285,000 people who have had wages garnished. The lead plaintiff is Elizabeth Barber, who works as a home health aide near Rochester, N.Y.
"During the pandemic she has seen her weekly schedule reduced by 10 to 15 hours, greatly adding to her financial strain," a NCLC statement on Friday said. "Ms. Barber has had to leave bills unpaid in order to cover her basic needs... [while] the Department has continued to garnish her paychecks through the pandemic. The very purpose of the CARES Act is to provide immediate emergency relief to Americans, like Elizabeth, suffering the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic."
The NCLC added that Barber earns $12.89 per hour caring for cerebral palsy patients, with about 12 percent taken to pay for her default on about $10,000 in student loans. It added that her work hours have recently been reduced.
"With the President at her side, Secretary DeVos promised in March that she had stopped federal wage garnishments altogether, which is what the CARES Act requires," said Alex Elson of Student Defense. "The truth is, she keeps on taking wages from the paychecks of Americans struggling to make ends meet. We sued to make her stop."
As of April 21, the Education Department had yet to send letters requesting that employers stop garnishing the pay of student loan borrowers in default. In April, a group of 10 congressional Democrats led by Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., expressed concern that the Education Department has not fully acted on the requirement to stop wage garnishment.
"This is simply unconscionable... we request the Administration promptly issue new guidance halting all involuntary collections effective immediately and provide a clear timeline for refunds to borrowers" they wrote in an April 16 letter to DeVos and to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
