2020 Georgia Code
Title 45 - Public Officers and Employees
Chapter 19 - Labor Practices
Article 2 - Fair Employment Practices
§ 45-19-41. Administrator to Have Exclusive Jurisdiction Over Claims Under Article; Final Determination of Claim Bars Further State Actions
The administrator shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any claim of any unlawful practice under this article. A final determination of a claim alleging an unlawful practice under this article shall exclude any other action or proceeding brought by the same person based on the same complaint, except for any remedies which may be available under the United States Constitution and federal laws.
(Ga. L. 1978, p. 859, § 19; Ga. L. 1983, p. 1097, § 1.)
OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Concurrent jurisdiction of Office of Fair Employment Practices and State Personnel Board.
- The Georgia Office of Fair Employment Practices and the State Personnel Board still have concurrent jurisdiction over charges of unlawful discrimination. 1983 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 83-51.
If a charging party files a charge of discrimination with either the Georgia Office of Fair Employment Practices or the State Personnel Board, the other agency may take jurisdiction over that charge while it is pending with the first agency. 1983 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 83-51.
Exclusive jurisdiction of administrator.- The administrator does not have exclusive jurisdiction over any claim cognizable under the "Fair Employment Practices Act", but merely has exclusive jurisdiction over those claims which are in fact filed with the Georgia Office of Fair Employment Practices under the provisions of that Act. 1983 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 83-35.
Jurisdiction over claim filed with other governmental entity.- The Georgia Office of Fair Employment Practices is free, if it chooses to do so, to assume jurisdiction over a claim which is filed under the provisions of the "Fair Employment Practices Act" notwithstanding the fact that what is essentially the same grievance is already pending before the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. 1983 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 83-35.
Issue litigated before one agency may not be relitigated before another.
- The 1983 amendment to O.C.G.A. § 45-19-41 does not affect the legal doctrine that issues resolved before an administrative tribunal cannot be relitigated in a separate action or before another administrative tribunal. 1983 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 83-51.
A final determination on the merits by either the Georgia Office of Fair Employment Practices or Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia would bar the other from reconsidering the same issue between the same parties. 1983 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 83-35.
