TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Kate Prince on Dec 23, 2021

Tennessee is facing a lawsuit over its decision to deny a public records request for a private contractor’s report that provided recommendations on how to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Associated Press reports. Gov. Bill Lee asked consulting firm McKinsey & Co. to prepare the report that was required to provide a “government efficiency assessment and review” and identify “performance improvements” to the state’s COVID-19 response. The plaintiff in the case, state employee Thomas Wesley, filed the public records request as a state citizen. An attorney for the Department of Human Resources denied the request in September, saying the records are “subject to the deliberative process privilege and contain confidential information that is subject to the exception for information regarding operational vulnerabilities.” Attorneys for the plaintiff argue the report doesn’t fall under a deliberative process exemption.