A lawsuit filed in Washington by student borrower groups accuses Sec. DeVos and the Education Dept. of continuing to 'seize wages from distressed federal student loan borrowers' during the coronavirus pandemic.
"Right now, low-wage workers hit hardest by the economic impact of the pandemic need their paychecks to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads," said Persis Yu, the director of the National Consumer Law Center's Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project, which filed the lawsuit along with the National Student Legal Defense Network, a nonprofit law firm.
The exact number of student borrowers who are still having their wages garnished is unclear, but according to the lawsuit, the department estimated about 285,000 people had parts of their paycheck taken between March 13 and March 26 — just before DeVos' action took effect., a $2 trillion stimulus package signed by President Donald Trump.
The lawsuit seeks to enforce that the Education Department abides by the CARES Act and that any illegally seized wages are refunded.Angela Morabito, a spokeswoman for the department, said Friday that the agency does not comment on pending litigation, but that it has more broadly"taken immediate action to notify employers to stop garnishing wages."
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