NORTHAMPTON — Up to 105 Smith College employees were denied unemployment claims due to a technical error in the college’s payroll system, according to a Smith spokeswoman.

The technical error “caused our new payroll management system to underreport data to the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance,” according to college spokeswoman Stacey Schmeidel.

“Because of this error, some unemployment claims were denied through no fault of the employees,” she said.

The college is currently “directly addressing the issue with the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance in order to ensure that all data is accurately reported,” Schmeidel said. “Additionally, we are reaching out to the affected employees to assist with resubmission of their claims as needed. We are deeply sorry for the error and the difficulty it may have caused for our employees.”

At least one employee alerted the state attorney general’s office, according to an employee who spoke with the Gazette, with input from others who were furloughed. When contacted, he attorney general’s office did not comment on the matter Wednesday.

According to an email obtained by the Gazette, the college’s COVID-19 Incident Response Team “made the difficult decision to place all casual employees on a furlough as of March 20,” wrote Associate Director of Museum Administration Lily Foster. “Casual” employees refers to those who are part time and receive no benefits.

Those scheduled to work from March 15 through March 28 would receive regular pay, she wrote, and those who worked at Smith for at least 10 years would receive an additional week of pay.

“You are eligible to apply for unemployment benefits, and if approved by the state, the college will pay the claim,” she wrote in the email.

Despite efforts to assure the college that museum staff “continue to be playing critical roles to keep the museum secure while we are in this period of remote work,” she said, the COVID-19 response team “has been assessing the already massive financial impact of this situation, and it became clear that the college had to take drastic steps immediately.”

Jacquelyn Voghel can be reached at jvoghel@gazettenet.com.