Nationwide Settlement Grants Millions of Dollars to Supplemental Security Income Beneficiaries Harmed During Pandemic

On November 20, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York approved a settlement (Campos v. Kijakazi, No. 21 Civ. 5143 (E. D. N. Y.)), that will provide automatic remedies to nearly a quarter million Supplement Security Income (SSI) recipients who will have back benefits credited to their accounts. The settlement comes after a class action lawsuit filed by the New York Legal Assistance Group, Justice in Aging, and Arnold & Porter alleged that pandemic-related administrative errors and shutdowns led the Social Security Administration to charge low-income recipients with overpayments. The certified class includes all individuals with an SSI overpayment incurred between March 2020 and April 2023.