Notice Emergency
- Date
- 2025-06-20
Summary
A Notice of Plaintiff's Status on Irreparable Harm filed June 20, 2025 by pro se plaintiff Joshua Abrams in Case No. 1:24-cv-03390-RMR against the Division of Unemployment Insurance and others, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, as Document 43. The notice states it is not a motion and is meant to update the Court on the harm the plaintiff says continues from the defendants' actions. It restates the plaintiff's allegations that in 2023 the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment denied him meaningful notice and access to appeal regarding unemployment benefits and placed integrity holds on his account. It states that nearly $6,000 in backpay remains unprocessed and that an emergency injunction motion is pending. The four-page notice disputes the defendants' exhaustion arguments and ends with a certificate of service.
Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used
Full text
Case No. 1:24-cv-03390-RMR Document 43 filed 06/20/25 USDC Colorado pg 1
of 4
1
The United States District Court District of Colorado
FILED
901 19th St, Denver, CO 80294 | (303) 844-3433 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DENVER, COLORADO
Plaintiff: Joshua Abrams 12:10 pm, Jun 20, 2025
JEFFREY P. COLWELL, CLERK
v.
Defendant(s): Division of Unemployment Insurance,
JOE BARELA | JEFF FITZGERALD | Etc. ▲COURT USE ONLY▲
Joshua Abrams, Pro Se | abramslive@gmail.com |720-910-4829 Case Number:
1881 E 112th Pl, Northglenn Colorado 80233 1:24-cv-03390-RMR
Division: Courtroom
NOTICE OF PLAINTIFF’S STATUS ON IRREPARABLE HARM
Plaintiff Joshua Abrams respectfully submits this notice to provide the Court with a brief update
and reaffirm the urgency and constitutional significance of the issues raised in the pending
matter. This filing is not a motion but is intended to assist the Court in fully understanding the
timeline, nature, and extent of harm that continues to impact the Plaintiff due to Defendants'
actions and inactions. As of the date of this filing, June 20, 2025, Plaintiff no longer receives any
unemployment benefits and has zero income, safety net, or means of survival apart from judicial
intervention. Plaintiff's only current assistance consists of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP) benefits and Medicaid. In January 2025, the Court granted Plaintiff’s fee
waiver based on a finding of indigency; since that time, Plaintiff’s financial condition has
deteriorated into a dire, life-threatening state.
Plaintiff has been deprived of property and denied meaningful access to appeal or petition for
redress of his benefit determinations. That deprivation, which began in 2023, triggered a
cascading economic collapse that remains unremedied and has grown more severe by the day.
The ongoing inability to pay rent, maintain car insurance, or afford necessary care, medication,
Case No. 1:24-cv-03390-RMR Document 43 filed 06/20/25 USDC Colorado pg 2
of 4
2
and food for Plaintiff’s service animal, all present imminent and compounding harms that
demand immediate recognition and judicial action to prevent further constitutional, financial, and
humanitarian injury.
Plaintiff filed this action alleging, among other things, that in 2023 the Colorado Department of
Labor and Employment (CDLE) violated his constitutional rights by depriving him of
meaningful notice and access to appeal mechanisms regarding underpaid unemployment
benefits. In addition, Plaintiff was subjected to at least three separate "integrity holds" on his
account in 2023, which appear retaliatory in nature and unsupported by proper notice,
determination, or due process as the Defendant has failed to provide any such notice despite clear
indication that it ‘should have’ under its theoretical frameworks they supplied.
To date, CDLE has failed to produce any appealable determination or explanation relating to
those integrity holds, despite being required under both federal and state law to provide notice
within seven days. Their failure to do so in 2023 has had a direct and ongoing obstructive impact
on Plaintiff's claim in 2025, compounding economic harm and impeding access to benefits.
Notably, nearly $6,000 in backpay tied to out-of-state wages from 2023 remains unprocessed or
improperly calculated, severely affecting Plaintiff’s eligibility and benefit amount across benefit
years.
Plaintiff has filed two emergency injunctions in this matter, both citing irreparable harm not only
to himself but to similarly situated individuals systemically denied due process. Both sides have
briefed the latest injunction, which remains pending before the Court. Plaintiff respectfully
reaffirms that the harm described therein is not abstract or historical; it is active, intensifying, and
life-threatening. The denial of this backpay continues to result in acute housing instability,
Case No. 1:24-cv-03390-RMR Document 43 filed 06/20/25 USDC Colorado pg 3
of 4
3
inability to afford basic necessities, and daily degradation of Plaintiff’s health and safety. In
addition to these financial and emotional harms, Plaintiff has suffered physical illness including
conjunctivitis and contracting COVID-19 directly due to the unsanitary and negligent conditions
endured while attempting to resolve these matters in person at CDLE facilities. These efforts
were made necessary by the agency’s failure to provide accessible communication channels or
comply with Plaintiff’s ADA accommodation requests. These health setbacks further impaired
Plaintiff’s ability to seek or maintain employment, exacerbating the already severe and
unconstitutional conditions imposed by Defendants’ inaction and systemic failures.
Defendants have largely failed to rebut these substantive claims, instead offering general
immunity arguments or suggesting that Plaintiff should have exhausted additional administrative
appeals despite never issuing any appealable determination regarding the key issues raised.
There is no legal or logical basis to demand exhaustion of a nonexistent or concealed process,
particularly where doing so would only magnify harm and perpetuate unlawful denial. The
defense’s position hinges on the untenable assertion that Plaintiff should have pursued further
administrative escalation related specifically to the withdrawal of his application a process
which, even if successful, would have resulted in additional harm by forcing Plaintiff to forfeit
his claim and “start over,” thereby resetting his rights and benefits eligibility. Such a route would
likely have been futile in any case, as the timeline, procedural posture, and limited scope of
meaningful engagement afforded by the magistrate and the appeals system would have rendered
any such effort ineffectual or summarily dismissed.
This Court is respectfully urged to recognize that further delay whether due to administrative
backlog or internal discretion directly contributes to the constitutional injury and compounds the
systemic failures already presented. Plaintiff affirms that the factual record before the Court fully
Case No. 1:24-cv-03390-RMR Document 43 filed 06/20/25 USDC Colorado pg 4
of 4
4
supports immediate emergency intervention. Continued delay at this stage will almost certainly
result in homelessness and irreversible financial collapse.
This matter has already been expressly administered and briefed as an emergency, and any
further motion to expedite would be both redundant and procedurally moot. Accordingly, this
notice is submitted to update the Court on Plaintiff’s current total lack of income, resources, or
stability, and to reiterate the critical and life-threatening urgency of judicial intervention
consistent with the intent and purpose of the laws governing unemployment compensation and
due process protections.
Accordingly, Plaintiff submits this notice to ensure the Court has a full understanding of the
harm at stake, the lack of any meaningful remedy offered by Defendants, and the critical and
time-sensitive need for judicial action to protect Plaintiff’s constitutional and economic rights.
________________________________________
Date: 06-20-2025 | ❑Petitioner/Plaintiff
Joshua Abrams, Pro Se
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I certify that on 06-20-2025 a true and accurate copy of the Defendant was served on the other
party by:
X_E-filed, lauren.davison@coag.gov & Stephen.woolsey@coag.gov
__________________________________________
❑Petitioner/Plaintiff
File and source
- File
- gov.uscourts.cod.239393.43.0.pdf
- Size
- 137,433 bytes
- SHA-256
- 9aec338d7c8a377ee37763a23d86b29cef017b419d5c3a8f6b9d9cd213d71774
- Our copy
- gov.uscourts.cod.239393.43.0.pdf
- Original
- PACER (login required)