As the labor shortage continues to wreak havoc with small businesses across the country, the issue is being fought out in a host of different venues. First off, there are the many states that have announced (or already) that they are suspending or ceasing the extra bonus payments as we’ve reported in prior issues. That said, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced in early June that the Old Line State would cease the payments on July 3, but that day Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lawrence Fletcher-Hill issued a 10-day restraining order prohibiting the state from halting the benefit. In his decision, the judge ruled that ceasing the benefit while the issue was working its way through the courts would cause “immediate, substantial and irreparable harm.” An appeal of the ruling was denied on Monday of this week. There are two cases now pending in the Maryland courts. Likewise, an Indiana court has also ordered the reinstatement of the bonus in the Hoosier State on June 28 until final adjudication by the courts. Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb had stopped the extra payments as of June 19 and is appealing the decision. In Ohio, yet another lawsuit was filed this week seeking to require Governor Mike DeWine to reinstate the $300 unemployment bonus he ceased as of June 26. The lawsuit was filed by two attorneys who claimed the cessation of the payments is a “willful and blatant violation of Ohio law.” In the meantime, 19 states have indicated they will pay the extra unemployment bonus right through the summer until the program expires on September 6. Those states are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.