FOIA Advisor

FOIA News: EPA employees file FOIA suit re telecommuting policies

FOIA News (2015-2023)Allan BlutsteinComment

Environmental Protection Agency Workers File Suit Over Remote Work Policies

EPA workers in the agency's largest region allege that their remote work requests have been unfairly denied.

By Michael Gennara, Gov’t Exec., Oct. 28, 20

Environmental Protection Agency workers in the midwest are suing the agency, seeking disclosure of documents under a Freedom of Information Act request. The document request is related to the agency’s remote work policies for employees of the EPA’s Region 5 Office and its application to specific employees.

Region 5 is the largest of the EPA’s 10 national regions, and includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.

These EPA employees, represented by American Federation of Government Employees Local 704, allege in a lawsuit filed on Oct. 20 that requests to work remotely have been unfairly denied to Region 5 workers even though productivity has remained high with remote work. 

Read more here.