✩ Hoffman v. Oxendine - Open Records Act
Posted: July 2nd, 2004 by Gaslowitz Frankel LLCWe represented several long-term disability insurance claimants who filed an Open Records Act request to obtain a copy of the Georgia Insurance Commissioner’s investigative report of the long-term disability insurer who had denied our clients’ claims. The Insurance Commissioner refused to produce the report because he allegedly was trying to resolve the issue with the insurer before issuing the report publicly, if at all. At the hearing, the Insurance Commissioner also argued that another statutory exception applied. The Court of Appeals held 1 that under the Georgia Open Records Act, the government agency must give all of its reasons for denying a request to the requesting party, and new defenses articulated at a subsequent hearing cannot be considered. Based on this, the Court of Appeals held that the Insurance Commissioner could not withhold the investigative report from our clients just because he was trying to negotiate a settlement with the insurer.
1 268 Ga. App. 316, 601 S.E.2d 813 (2004)
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