“Section 9021(b) of Title 15 provides that the ‘Secretary [of Labor] shall provide to any covered individual unemployment benefit assistance . . . .’ Plaintiffs allege that they were ‘covered individual[s]’ under this provision and that the Secretary failed to ‘provide . . . unemployment benefit assistance’ to them. Taking these allegations as true for the purposes of Rule 12(b)(6), have Plaintiffs stated a claim for damages under the Little Tucker Act?”
“Appellants allege that the Federal Government violated the mandate in [Pandemic Unemployment Assistance] that the Secretary of Labor ‘shall provide . . . assistance’ to ‘any covered individual.’ 15 U.S.C. ยง 9021(b). We affirm because PUA does not require the Secretary to pay PUA benefits to individual citizens; rather, the Secretary must provide assistance through agreements with the states.”
