Southern Poverty Law Center sues Georgia Department of Labor to enforce open records act
ATLANTA -- The Southern Poverty Law Center (人兽性交) has filed suit against the Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) in the Fulton County Superior Court after the agency failed to comply with the state鈥檚 open records act. The 人兽性交 is seeking public information and records related to the months-long delays in processing unemployment insurance benefits (UIB) applications of, and to pay UIB owed to, people who desperately need financial assistance, and is asking a judge to compel GDOL to comply with state open records law.
On December 8, 2020, the 人兽性交 submitted a written Georgia Open Records Act request to the GDOL for public data and records related to the processing times of applications, payments, and appeals, as well as policies, protocols, guidelines, rules, or procedures related to the GDOL鈥檚 processing and payment of UIB from February to November 2020. More than three months later, the state has not provided the information or given a reason under state law why it does not have to comply.鈥疢uch of this request involves data that the GDOL electronically maintains and routinely reports to the U.S. Department of Labor.鈥�
In January, 人兽性交聽 filed a lawsuit against GDOL on behalf of six applicants whose claims/appeals hadn鈥檛 been processed. While that case was dismissed, GDOL subsequently responded to all six applications after the suit was filed.鈥�
The following is a statement from Emily Early, senior supervising staff attorney for the 人兽性交鈥檚 Economic Justice Project.鈥�
鈥淪ince the pandemic began, thousands of Georgians have lost their jobs and have struggled to purchase food and pay their rent. Throughout this time, the GDOL has taken months to respond to unemployment applications and requests for appeals with no explanation for these unconscionable delays. Now the state is also choosing to ignore our open records request. We will advocate to get our request fulfilled and to understand why so many people cannot get the help, and dignity, they need and deserve during these challenging times.鈥�
The lawsuit can be read here.
