Request By:
Mr. A. J. Anderson
Director, Division of Unemployment Insurance
Department for Employment Services
Cabinet for Human Resources
275 E. Main Street
Frankfort, Kentucky 40621
Opinion
Opinion By: Frederic J. Cowan, Attorney General; Nathan Goldman, Assistant Attorney General
Don C. Meade, Esq., has appealed to the Attorney General pursuant to KRS 61.880 your denial of his request to inspect various records in the custody of your Department.
In a letter to your Division, dated August 11, 1988, Mr. Meade said in part that his office would like to undertake regular mailings to claimants who have had their benefits denied or who are in the process of appealing the adjusted determination to the referee. His letter included the following paragraph:
"This letter is a request for your assistance. I would like to be able to identify, on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, all of those individuals who have claimed benefits, and who have had their claims denied. Further, I would like to identify all cases which have been appealed by either party. We are interested primarily in Jefferson County, which is covered by two separate offices."
You responded to Mr. Meade in a letter dated August 15, 1988. A copy of that letter was not directed to the Attorney General. You advised Mr. Meade that pursuant to KRS 341.190(3), all unemployment insurances records are confidential and, therefore, his request was being denied.
In his letter of appeal to this office Mr. Meade challenges your position that a claimant's identity and address are confidential. He maintains that the second sentence of KRS 341.190(3) means that information is confidential only to the extent that it in any manner reveals or indicates the employing unit's identity. His request for information is solely to identify claimants in order to notify them of available legal resources.
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
At the outset we direct your attention to KRS 61.880 (2) which provides in part that, "A copy of the written response denying inspection of a public record shall be forwarded immediately by the agency to the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Kentucky." Thus a copy of your letter of August 15, 1988, to Mr. Meade should have been sent to this office.
KRS 61.878(1)(j) provides that among those public records which can or should be excluded from public inspection in the absence of a court order authorizing inspection are the following:
"Public records or information the disclosure of which is prohibited or restricted or otherwise made confidential by enactment of the General Assembly."
KRS 341.190(3), concerning the confidentiality of material acquired by your Division, provides as follows:
"All letters, reports, communications, and other matters, written or oral, from employer or worker, to the secretary for human resources or any of his agents, representatives, or employes, or to the commission, or to any board or official functioning under this chapter, which have been written, sent, or made in connection with the requirements and administration of this chapter, shall be absolutely privileged and shall not be the subject matter or basis for any suit for slander or libel in any court, but no employer or employe, or his representative, testifying before the commission, the secretary for human resources or any duly authorized representative thereof, shall be exempt from punishment for perjury. Information thus obtained shall not be published or be open for public inspection except to public employes in the performance of their duties, in any manner revealing or indicating the employing unit's identity, but any claimant at a hearing before the commission, the secretary for human resources or his duly authorized representative, shall be supplied with information from such records to the extent necessary for the proper presentation of his claim."
The first part of this provision makes confidential information in the form of letters, reports, oral communications, etc. from an employee or worker to CHR. The names of claimants and the disposition of their claims does not appear to us to be such an exception. Absent a court case interpreting this statute to the contrary, we must be guided by the public policy of favoring disclosure of public records.
City of St. Matthews v. Voice of St. Matthews, Inc., Ky., 519 S.W.2d 811 (1974).
The second part of the provision makes confidential information which would reveal the employing unit's identity. The names of claimants and the disposition of their claims would not come within this exemption. The employing unit's identity could only be revealed if the employee whose name is divulged chooses to do so. Such an act by the employee is not prohibited by the statute.
It is, therefore, the opinion of the Attorney General that the Division of Unemployment Insurance improperly denied a request to inspect records pertaining to the names of specific persons who have filed claims for benefits under the provisions of the unemployment insurance program.
As required by statute a copy of this opinion is being mailed to the appealing party, Don C. Meade, Esq. You have the right to challenge it in the appropriate circuit court pursuant to KRS 61.880(5) and KRS 61.882.