SNAP Benefit Skimming: Lawsuit against United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)

In February 2023, the Legal Aid Society and co-counsel at Freshfields filed a class-action lawsuit named "Chen v. Vislack" against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The lawsuit aims to challenge the agency's regulations that govern the replacement of SNAP benefits stolen through a method known as "skimming," which is an electronic form of theft from EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) cards.

In New York state, there have been more than 10,000 documented instances of skimming, resulting in approximately $4 million in stolen benefits since January 2022, according to recent data from the state’s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance.

The class involved in the lawsuit is defined as any New York State resident who had SNAP benefits stolen via skimming back to January 1, 2022. If the Plaintiffs prevail in the case, two groups will be eligible for benefit replacement:

1. Class members who lost benefits prior to October 1, 2022, cut-off for federal omnibus relief would have their benefits replaced.

2. Clients who had benefits stolen on or after October 1, but for whom the two cycles available via the omnibus relief do not cover their full loss, will also receive benefits replacement.

Although Congress provided partial relief to SNAP recipients through the 2023 Appropriations Act, the act only applies to skimming instances after October 2022.  Legal Aid’s case looks to include all people who were left out of December’s bill.

See news release from the Legal Aid Society.