It took letters from Georgia elected officials for the Internal Revenue Services to finally allow Chamblee staff members, ill from exposure to a rat and cockroach infestation, to work from home.
According to the National Treasury Employees Union, employees have been made “to endure desks covered in rat urine and feces” for several weeks at the IRS Chamblee location. Some staff have left their positions.
After constituents contacted Georgia lawmakers, Sen. Raphael Warnock, Sen. Jon Ossoff and Rep. Hank Johnson called on federal officials to allow IRS employees to work remotely while the agency addresses the problem. Warnock said he is “appalled” at the conditions.
In a June 11 letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and IRS CEO Frank Bisignano, the Georgia politicians urged the immediate closure of the Chamblee campus until the facility has been thoroughly cleaned and declared safe. The IRS agreed on June 11.
“I’m appalled and disgusted by the working conditions that IRS employees at the Atlanta campus currently face,” Warnock said. “Every employee should feel safe and comfortable in their working environment, and that’s just not the case right now at the IRS Atlanta campus.”
In the letter, the Georgia delegation asked the IRS to give “full and fair consideration” to employees’ requests for telework during remediation and to provide a briefing outlining the agency’s specific plan to address the health and safety hazard. The lawmakers set a deadline of June 23 for the IRS to respond with an update.
The IRS has begun initial steps toward remediation, according to the lawmakers, but they said the work remains incomplete. The Chamblee campus serves as one of the agency’s regional processing and administrative hubs.
Employees have requested that the IRS close the Chamblee office and move to a full telework posture until it eliminates the infestation. A memo this month from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management reminded federal agencies with offices in a 2026 FIFA World Cup host city – such as Atlanta – of their “authority to approve situational/unscheduled telework and other workforce flexibilities.”
“Given that teleworking is an appropriate response to significant increases in traffic congestion and commuting delays from the World Cup, we believe the IRS should also use its sole and exclusive discretion to enable teleworking in response to this pressing occupational health and safety hazard,” the letter states.
