A former public affairs officer for a state agency that helps people with disabilities find employment filed a whistleblower lawsuit Tuesday in Fulton Superior Court, alleging she was fired for objecting to widespread staff use of a phone app that encrypts and automatically deletes text messages.
Stephanie Ramage is accusing leadership and staff of the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency (GVRA) of violating the Georgia Open Records Act and the Freedom of Information Act by using the secure messaging app, Signal. The lawsuit also claims that use of Signal extends beyond GVRA, and is used “within the executive branch and agencies of the State of Georgia.”
“Some of its users are high-ranking officials, such as directors and heads of departments,” the lawsuit says.
Zain Farooqui, general counsel for the agency, declined comment via email to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Tuesday afternoon, stating that GVRA had not yet been served.
Farooqui is named prominently in the lawsuit, as the agency attorney who signed off on use of the app. The complaint states that Ramage took her concern directly to Farooqui.
“Farooqui acknowledged that he used the application and asked Ramage if she believed an attorney would do something illegal,” the lawsuit says. “Ramage suggested that he should ask for advice from the attorney general’s office. When Ramage stated that she would not be using the application, Farooqui said it might be hard for her to `keep up` if she did not use it.”
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