Laid-off workers are scoring early wins in lawsuits against GOP governors attempting to cut off federal jobless aid

• Jobless workers in Indiana and Maryland racked up early court wins to restore federal unemployment.
• "I think it certainly has the potential to start more cases," one expert said of the litigation.
• A lawyer who brought a similar case in Ohio said he may even go after the state for damages.

Jobless workers in Ohio are the latest group to push back in court against Republican governors cutting off their federal benefits early.

Federal benefits in the state wound down on June 26, months ahead of their scheduled expiration in September. A new lawsuit representing three Ohio workers claims the state is obligated to continue paying up.

The suit follows similar ones filed in Indiana and Maryland, both of which won temporary victories. In Indiana, law firms said a similar law mandates the state procure all unemployment compensation conferred upon it, including compensation from amendments like those in the CARES Act. In other words, the argument was the Republican governor's efforts to cancel extra unemployment benefits from Biden's stimulus could be a violation of that law.

The Ohio suit hinges on a specific part of state law that deals with the state's responsibility to cooperate with the federal government on unemployment insurance - and whether it should "secure to this state and its citizens all advantages available."

Former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann is now with Dann Law, one of the two firms representing plaintiffs in the case. He told Insider he believed the amendments to federal unemployment written into pandemic-era laws "are exactly the type of thing that it was the intention of the Legislature that the governor is required - has a clear, legal duty - to accept and pass on to the folks that were represented."

"I think it certainly has the potential to start more cases," Andrew Stettner, a senior fellow and jobless-policy expert at the left-leaning Century Foundation, said. "The legal argument made in Indiana was based on a set of components that were not unique to Indiana law."

At least 400,000 jobless workers in Ohio are affected by the provision of an additional $300 a week ending, according to an estimate from Stettner.

The three plaintiffs in the case said they wouldn't be able to pay their basic living expenses if all federal benefits were cut off early, including rent, food, and medications for pets and service animals.

But in Indiana, where a preliminary injunction was granted to temporarily halt the end of benefits, jobless workers may still face difficulty getting their money. The state's Department of Workforce Development said it couldn't restore the benefits, HuffPost's Arthur Delaney reported. It's a situation that Labor Secretary Marty Walsh told Insider he was keeping a close eye on.

But in Ohio, "it would be real easy to get it restarted, and, frankly, if they don't, then we'll look at bringing some sort of a damage action against the state to recover what they should have gotten," Dann said.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has said he's planning to appeal the court's 10-day injunction ordering the state to continue dispensing federal jobless benefits.

"Why wouldn't a state that cares about the people that live in it, and who has a statutory obligation to pass on benefits that are available under federal law - why wouldn't they do it?" Dann said.

Are you an unemployed worker with a story to share? Email these reporters at jkaplan@insider.com and jzeballos@insider.com.