Lawsuit Filed After Erie County Legislature Denies FOIL Request for Work Schedules

Legislature Claims No Members Maintain Calendars Related to County Duties

ERIE COUNTY, NY – Attorney Paul Wolf has filed a lawsuit challenging the Erie County Legislature’s denial of a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request seeking copies of legislators’ work schedules.

Wolf submitted a FOIL request for the 2025 calendars or schedules of all eleven Erie County legislators. The request was intended to provide the public with insight into how elected officials spend their time, including meetings, appointments, and community events.

The Clerk of the Legislature denied the request, stating that none of the eleven legislators maintains a schedule or calendar related to their official duties.

“That claim raises serious questions,” said Wolf. “Most professionals maintain some form of calendar to manage their responsibilities. It is difficult to understand how eleven elected officials, each earning $65,000 per year, would operate without any record of their work-related activities.”

Following the denial, Wolf contacted each legislator directly to confirm whether they maintain a schedule. None responded to his inquiry.

However, in a separate exchange, two legislators declined an invitation to attend a future event, citing scheduling conflicts—suggesting that calendars or schedules do, in fact, exist.

Under New York’s Freedom of Information Law, government agencies are required to conduct a “diligent search” for requested records. Wolf’s lawsuit alleges that the Legislature failed to meet that standard. “If schedules exist, the public has a right to see them,” Wolf said. “Transparency about how elected officials spend their time is a basic expectation of accountable government.” The lawsuit seeks to compel the Legislature to conduct a proper search and disclose any responsive records.