Wisconsin to compensate workers with disabilities for wrongfully denied unemployment claims

The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development building is shown in downtown Madison, Wis. (Steven Potter / WPR)

Thousands of workers could see relief after a judge struck down the state’s ban on unemployment insurance for Social Security Disability recipients.

By Janelle Mella

Wisconsin Watch

A federal judge has ordered Wisconsin’s Department of Workforce Development to compensate disabled workers who were denied unemployment benefits under a state law struck down as discriminatory.

U.S. District Judge William Conley’s order promises relief to potentially thousands of workers affected by a 2013 Wisconsin law that banned recipients of federal disability aid from collecting unemployment compensation when they lost work.

But many details remain to be ironed out, including how q