Date:
05/25/2021
Subject:
Chad Brewbaker/Iowa Workforce Development - Dismissal Order
Opinion:
The Iowa Public Information Board
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In re the Matter of: Chad Brewbaker, Complainant And Concerning: Iowa Workforce Development, Respondent |
Case Number: 21FC:0026
Dismissal Order
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COMES NOW, Margaret E. Johnson, Executive Director for the Iowa Public Information Board (IPIB), and enters this Dismissal Order:
On March 25, 2021, Chad Brewbaker filed formal complaint 21FC:0026, alleging that the Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) violated Iowa Code chapter 22.
Mr. Brewbaker stated that on March 1, 2021, he sent an email to the IWD asking, “I would like to know the formulas that IWD has been using since June 2019 to calculate eligibility [for unemployment benefits].” He alleged that the IWD “refused to release the arithmetic actually used in determining unemployment benefit eligibility in 2019 and 2020.”
The IWD responded to the complaint, stating that Mr. Brewbaker was informed that the formulas are located in Iowa Code section 96.4 and in the Iowa Unemployment Insurance Handbook, both of which are accessible online.
In addition, Mr. Brewbaker was told he can access information about his unemployment benefit claim through a specific email inbox available for all unemployment insurance claimants to submit questions about their claims before the IWD.
Requesting an answer to a question is not the same as requesting a copy of a public record. A record request should describe the public record. It appears from the information provided by Mr. Brewbaker that he was aware of the IWD policies concerning his unemployment benefit claim and of Iowa Code section 96.4. Rather than requesting a public record, the correspondence provided by Mr. Brewbaker indicates that he is disputing how the IWD applied the policy and law when reviewing his claim.
To the extent that Mr. Brewbaker intended to request a public record, he has been provided access to the publicly available records.
Iowa Code section 23.1 notes that the purpose of the IPIB is “to provide an alternative means by which to secure compliance with and enforcement of the requirements of chapters 21 and 22 through the provision by the Iowa public information board to all interested parties of an efficient, informal, and cost-effective process for resolving disputes.”
Iowa Code section 23.8 requires that a complaint be within the IPIB’s jurisdiction, appear legally sufficient, and have merit before the IPIB accepts a complaint. This complaint does not meet those requirements.
IT IS SO ORDERED: Formal complaint 21FC:0026 is dismissed as beyond the jurisdiction of the IPIB pursuant to Iowa Code section 23.8(2) and Iowa Administrative Rule 497-2.1(2)(b).
Pursuant to Iowa Administrative Rule 497-2.1(3), the IPIB may “delegate acceptance or dismissal of a complaint to the executive director, subject to review by the board.” The IPIB will review this Order on May 20, 2021. Pursuant to IPIB rule 497-2.1(4), the parties will be notified in writing of its decision.
By the IPIB Executive Director
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Margaret E. Johnson
1. Mr. Brewbaker also recited a number of allegations that were clearly outside the statutory authority of the IPIB, as outlined in Iowa Code chapter 23, such as allegations that the IWD has wrongly withheld benefits to part-time workers, that the denial of benefits was a whistleblower retaliation, that he was wrongfully denied medical aid by the Polk County jail and a judge, that the Polk County District Court committed mail fraud, that the IWD has violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Iowa Civil Rights Act, and that the IPIB and the Iowa Attorney General perpetrated fraud by denying his complaint filed in 2013.
2. See the link https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/96.4.pdf for the text of Section 96.4 and the link https://www.iowaworkforcedevelopment.gov/sites/search.iowaworkforcedevelopment.gov/files/documents/2018/2019%20English%20Unemployment%20Insurance%20Claimant%20Handbook%20Updated%201-1-20.pdf for the Handbook.
CERTIFICATE OF MAILING
This document was sent by electronic mail on the ___ day of May, 2021, to:
Chad Brewbaker
Iowa Workforce Development, David Steen, legal counsel