O.C.G.A. § 34-2-13 (2019)
Penalties for violations of chapter and for false statements under oath
(a) Any employer or owner who violates or fails or refuses to comply with any provision of this chapter within the time prescribed or any judgment or decree made by any court in connection with the provisions
of this chapter for which no penalty has been otherwise provided shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished for each such offense by a fine of not less than $20.00 nor more than $200.00, by imprisonment not to exceed six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. (b) Any person who shall knowingly testify falsely, under oath, or shall knowingly make, give, or produce any false statements or false evidence, under oath, to the Commissioner of Labor or his authorized representatives commits the offense of perjury.
History
(Ga. L. 1937, p. 230, § 18; Ga. L. 1975, p. 198, § 3.)
Annotations
Cross references. - Offense of perjury generally, § 16-10-70. JUDICIAL DECISIONS Ga. L. 1937, p. 230, § 18 (see now O.C.G.A. § 34-2-13) is a penal section and must be strictly construed. Plummer v. State, 90 Ga. App. 773, 84 S.E.2d 202 (1954). Employer’s false statements do not support at-will employee’s wrongful discharge claim. - Although a discharged at-will city employee’s claims that the employer falsified the separation no-
tice and conspired to deceive the Department of Labor for purposes of denying the employee unemployment compensation benefits could possibly have implicated the criminal provisions of O.C.G.A. §§ 34-2-13(b) and 34-8-256(b), there was nothing in those statutes that authorized a wrongful discharge claim on that basis. Reid v. City of Albany, 276 Ga. App. 171, 622 S.E.2d 875 (2005).