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2018 Georgia Code 34-8-122 | Car Wreck Lawyer

Link to State of Georgia Official Statute 2018 Georgia Code Annotated (sourced from legal.resource.org)
O.C.G.A. 34-8-122 Case Law from Google Scholar Amendments to OCGA 34-8-122

TITLE 34 LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

Section 8. Employment Security, 34-8-1 through 34-8-280.

ARTICLE 4 DISCLOSURE OF RECORDS

34-8-122. Communications between employer and employee, or between employer or employee and department, privileged.

  1. All letters, reports, communications, or any other matters, either oral or written, from the employer or employee to each other or to the department or any of its agents, representatives, or employees, which letters, reports, or other communications shall have been written, sent, delivered, or made in connection with the requirements of the administration of this chapter, shall be absolutely privileged and shall not be made the subject matter or basis for any action for slander or libel in any court of the State of Georgia.
  2. Any finding of fact or law, judgment, determination, conclusion, or final order made by an adjudicator, examiner, hearing officer, board of review, or any other person acting under the authority of the Commissioner with respect to this chapter shall not be admissible, binding, or conclusive in any separate or subsequent action or proceeding between a person and such person's present or previous employer brought before any court of this state or the United States or before any local, state, or federal administrative agency, regardless of whether the prior action was between the same or related parties or involved the same or similar facts; provided, however, any finding of fact or law, judgment, determination, conclusion, or final order made as described in this chapter shall be admissible in proceedings before the Commissioner.

(Code 1981, §34-8-122, enacted by Ga. L. 1991, p. 139, § 1.)

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Communication of reasons for discharge of employees privileged.

- Hospital personnel director's communication of reasons for discharge of employees to the Georgia Department of Labor was absolutely privileged and the trial court erred in denying summary judgment to the director as to this aspect of the employees' defamation claims. Davis v. Copelan, 215 Ga. App. 754, 452 S.E.2d 194 (1994).

Because statements by a city as an employer to the Department of Labor with respect to the discharged employee's unemployment compensation benefits were absolutely privileged, pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 34-8-122(a), and, as such, could not be used to support an at-will employee's defamation claim. Reid v. City of Albany, 276 Ga. App. 171, 622 S.E.2d 875 (2005).

Collateral estoppel.

- Superior court's determination in an action for unemployment benefits that an employee was terminated for cause precludes that employee from relitigating the issue in a subsequent action such as one based on employment discrimination. Langton v. Department of Cor., 220 Ga. App. 445, 469 S.E.2d 509 (1996).

Cited in Hightower v. Kendall Co., 225 Ga. App. 71, 483 S.E.2d 294 (1997); Desmond v. Troncalli Mitsubishi, 243 Ga. App. 71, 532 S.E.2d 463 (2000); ComSouth Teleservices, Inc. v. Liggett, 243 Ga. App. 446, 531 S.E.2d 190 (2000); Doss v. City of Savannah, 290 Ga. App. 670, 660 S.E.2d 457 (2008); Wright v. Brown, 336 Ga. App. 1, 783 S.E.2d 405 (2016).

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