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Declaration of Meiriely Amaral in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction

Date
2026-01-09

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Case 3:21-md-02992-GPC-MSB     Document 634-37     Filed 01/09/26     PageID.53587
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Declaration of Meiriely Amaral in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction
Case No. 3:21-CV-00376-VC
JOSEPH W. COTCHETT (SBN 36324)
jcotchett@cpmlegal.com
ANNE MARIE MURPHY (SBN 202540)
amurphy@cpmlegal.com
BRIAN DANITZ (SBN 247403)
bdanitz@cpmlegal.com
KARIN B. SWOPE (Pro Hac Vice)
kswope@cpmlegal.com
ANDREW F. KIRTLEY (SBN 328023)
akirtley@cpmlegal.com
COTCHETT, PITRE & MCCARTHY, LLP
840 Malcolm Road, Suite 200
Burlingame, CA 94010
MICHAEL RUBIN (SBN 080618)
mrubin@altber.com
STACEY M. LEYTON (SBN 203827)
sleyton@altber.com
MATTHEW MURRAY (SBN 271461)
mmurray@altber.com
CONNIE K. CHAN (SBN 284230)
cchan@altber.com
ALTSHULER BERZON LLP
177 Post Street, Suite 300
San Francisco, CA 94108
Telephone: (415) 421-7151
Facsimile: (415) 362-8064
Telephone: (650) 697-6000
Facsimile: (650) 697-0577
Co-Lead Counsel for Plaintiffs and the Proposed Class
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
 FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
JENNIFER YICK,
ROLAND OOSTHUIZEN,
ROSEMARY MATHEWS,
CARLOS RODRIGUEZ,
J. MICHAEL WILLRICH,
LINDSAY MCCLURE,
ROBERT L. WILSON,
CHRISTOPHER MOSSON,
CLARA CAJAS,
STEPHANIE SMITH,
ALAN KARAM,
AZURI MOON,
VANESSA RIVERA,
CANDACE KOOLE, and
LUIS PEREZ, on behalf of themselves
and all others similarly situated,
Plaintiffs,
vs.
BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.; and
DOES 1 through 50, inclusive,
 Defendants.
Case No. 3:21-cv-00376-VC
CLASS ACTION
DECLARATION OF MEIRIELY
AMARAL IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR
PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION AND
PROVISIONAL CLASS
CERTIFICATION
Date: May 13, 2021
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Crtm: 4, 17th Floor
Judge: Hon. Vince Chhabria
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Declaration of Meiriely Amaral in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction
Case No. 3:21-CV-00376-VC

I, Meiriely Amaral, declare as follows:
1.
I am over 18 years of age and have personal knowledge of the matters set forth in
this declaration.  I am a paralegal at the law firm Altshuler Berzon LLP (“Altshuler Berzon”),
which has been appointed interim co-lead counsel for Plaintiffs in the above-captioned
consolidated putative class action against Defendant Bank of America, N.A. (“Bank of
America” or “BANA”).  I make this declaration in support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary
Injunction and Provisional Class Certification.  If called as a witness, I could and would testify
competently thereto.
2.
Attached hereto as Exhibit 1 is a true and correct copy of Bank of America’s
California Employment Development Department Debit Card Account Agreement (“Cardholder
Agreement”), available at https://www.visaprepaidprocessing.com/eddcard/Program/Terms (last
accessed March 31, 2021).
3.
Attached hereto as Exhibit 2 is a true and correct copy of Bank of America’s
EDD Debit Card “Cardholder Frequently Asked Questions,” available at
https://www.visaprepaidprocessing.com/eddcard/program/faq (last accessed March 31, 2021).
4.
Attached hereto as Exhibit 3 is a true and correct copy of the Bank of America’s
website homepage for EDD Debit Card account holders, available at
https://www.visaprepaidprocessing.com/EDDCard/home/index (last accessed April 1, 2021).
5.
Attached hereto as Exhibit 4 is a true and correct copy of a webpage on the
California Employment Development Department’s (“EDD”) website titled, “Guide to applying
for unemployment benefits,” explaining how to “Receive your benefits,” available at
https://unemployment.edd.ca.gov/guide/receive-benefits (last accessed March 29, 2021).
6.
Attached hereto as Exhibit 5 is a true and correct copy of a webpage on the
EDD’s website titled, “Unemployment Insurance – After You File a Claim,” explaining how to
“Receive Your Benefit Payments,” available at
https://www.edd.ca.gov/unemployment/After_you_Filed.htm#receive (last accessed March 29,
2021).
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Declaration of Meiriely Amaral in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction
Case No. 3:21-CV-00376-VC

7.
Attached hereto as Exhibit 6 is a true and correct copy of a webpage on the
EDD’s website titled “Debit Card,” with additional information about “Frozen Cards”
displayed, available at https://www.edd.ca.gov/about_edd/The_EDD_Debit_Card.htm (last
accessed March 29, 2021).
8.
Attached hereto as Exhibit 7 are my transcriptions, transcribed to the best of my
ability and cleaned up for readability (e.g., by omitting “um” and other verbal tics), of excerpts
of the California State Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 4 on State Administration’s
(“Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 4”) Informational Hearing on “Employment
Development Department: Unemployment Insurance,” held January 26, 2021, a video of which
is available at https://www.assembly.ca.gov/media/assembly-budget-subcommittee-4-state-
admin-20210126/video (last accessed March 29, 2021).
9.
Attached hereto as Exhibit 8 is a true and correct copy of a letter dated February
5, 2021 from the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 4 to Brian Putler, State and Local
Government Relations, Western Region for Bank of America, setting forth the Subcommittee’s
follow up questions to Bank of America, available at
https://abgt.assembly.ca.gov/sites/abgt.assembly.ca.gov/files/Feb%209%20%20BOFA%20EDD
%20Hearing%20Follow%20Up%20Ltr.pdf.
10.
Attached hereto as Exhibit 9 is a true and correct copy of a letter dated February
19, 2021 from Brian Putler of Bank of America to the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 4
responding to the Subcommittee’s February 5 follow up letter, available at
https://abgt.assembly.ca.gov/sites/abgt.assembly.ca.gov/files/BOFA%20Follow%20Up%20Res
ponse.pdf.
11.
Attached hereto as Exhibit 10 is a true and correct copy of excerpts of the
California State Auditor’s Report 2020-128/628.1 titled, “Employment Development
Department: EDD’s Poor Planning and Ineffective Management Left It Unprepared to Assist
Californians Unemployed by COVID-19 Shutdowns,” dated January 2021 and issued to the
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public on January 26, 2021, available at https://www.bsa.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2020-
128and628J.pdf.
12.
Attached hereto as Exhibit 11 is a true and correct copy of excerpts of Bank of
America s Opposition to Plaintiff Yick’s Motion to Transfer Actions to the Northern District of
California Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1407 for Coordinated or Consolidated Pretrial Proceedings,
filed March 18. 2021 and docketed as Document No. 29 in In re Bank of America California
Unemployment Benefits Litigation. MDL Case No. 2992.
Attached hereto as Exhibit 12 is a true and correct copy of a news article by
Kenny Choi. “Victims of Bank Of America EDD Debit Card Fraud Tell Stories Of Fake
Charges, Long Waits. Closed Claims,” dated December 22, 2020, available at
https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/12/22/victirns-of-bank-of-america-edd-debit-card-fraud-
tell-stories-of-closed-claims-frustration-loss/ (last accessed March 30, 2021).
Attached hereto as Exhibit 13 is a true and correct copy of a news article by
Kenny Choi,‘“Your Claim Is Closed’: Victims Of EDD Debit Card Scam Fighting Bank Of
America To Get Money Back,” dated December 1, 2020, available at
https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/12/01/your-claim-is-closed-victims-of-edd-debit-card-
scam-fighting-bank-of-america-to-get-their-money-back/ (last accessed March 30, 2021).
I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.
Executed this 1st day of April 2021, at San Francisco, California.
13.
14.
Meiriely Amaral
3
Declaration of Meiriely Amaral in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction
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case 3:21-cv-00376-VC Document 64-4 Filed 04/01/21 Page 1 of 4
Exhibit 3
Case 3:21-md-02992-GPC-MSB     Document 634-37     Filed 01/09/26     PageID.53592
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0 EDD Debit Card • Home Page
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case 3:21-cv-00376-VC Document 64-4 Filed 04/01/21 Page 2 of 4
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Case 3:21-md-02992-GPC-MSB     Document 634-37     Filed 01/09/26     PageID.53593
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Case 3:21-md-02992-GPC-MSB     Document 634-37     Filed 01/09/26     PageID.53594
Page 8 of 9

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FEE INFORMATION
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SITE M AP I
CONTACT us
PRIVACY / SECURITY
TERMS & CONDITIONS
DIGITAL TERMS & CONDITIONS AND FEES I ATM LOCATOR
BANK OF AMERICA, N. A.
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Apple, the Apple logo and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries and regions. App Store is a service mark of Apple
Inc. Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.
Your funds are eligible for FDIC Insurance. Your funds are Insured up to $250,000 by the FDIC In the event Bank of America, N.A. fails, If specific deposit
Insurance requirements are met. See .r.ctk,go.v.Lru:~RQ.S.!.tsL121:epaid.html for details. In the event Bank of America, N.A. fails, the FDIC may require
Information from you, Including a government Identification number, to determine the amount of your Insured deposits. If you do not provide this
Information to the FDIC access to your Insured funds will be delayed.
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