Several New York City correction officers have filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming violations of their rights.
The New York Post reports that several city officials filed the suit after a federal judge ruled that employees are protected by the Freedom of Information Law, a civil liberties bill, and can use it to get more information about their jobs.
A group of guards filed a FOIA request in March, according to the suit, but it wasn’t until December the city admitted there were other documents with the information.
“It is astonishing that (the city’s Law Department) would invoke federal law in this manner to thwart its duty to respond to reasonable requests from NYC correction officers,” the suit says.
It continues: “In accordance with the City’s policy and practice of withholding documents by law in order to impede public access to information, City Hall — a department within the executive branch of City government — secretly held the requested documents, then refused to provide the information without court-ordered deadlines. The Court should compel the City to supply the documents on demand.”
A city spokeswoman told CNN that the city can’t comment on the litigation.