Source: http://docs.dos.ny.gov/coog/ftext/f15598.htm
Timestamp: 2013-05-18 09:28:41
Document Index: 704230137

Matched Legal Cases: ['§86', '§87', '§87', '§87', '§87', '§87']

FOIL-AO-15598
We are in receipt of your July 18, 2005 "complaint" against the Town of Ramapo for failing to provide records requested pursuant to the Freedom of Information Law. Please be advised that the Committee on Open Government is authorized to issue advisory opinions concerning the application of the Freedom of Information Law and the Open Meetings Law. The Committee is not empowered to enforce the Law or penalize a public body for any failure to comply.
That being said, we offer the following comments in regard to your concerns.
First, when an agency indicates that it does not maintain or cannot locate a record, an applicant for the record may seek a certification to that effect. Section 89(3) of the Freedom of Information Law provides in part that, in such a situation, on request, an agency "shall certify that it does not have possession of such record or that such record cannot be found after diligent search." If you consider it worthwhile to do so, you could seek such a certification.
Based on the foregoing, an agency must grant access to records, deny access in writing, or acknowledge the receipt of a request within five business days of receipt of a request. When an acknowledgment is given, it must include an approximate date within twenty business days indicating when it can be anticipated that a request will be granted or denied. However, if it is known that circumstances prevent the agency from granting access within twenty business days, or if the agency cannot grant access by the approximate date given and needs more than twenty business days to grant access, it must provide a written explanation of its inability to do so and a specific date by which it will grant access. That date must be reasonable in consideration of the circumstances of the request.
Third, to the extent that the Supervisor maintains "a calendar, date book, or appointment book", §86(4) of the Freedom of Information Law defines the term "record" expansively to include:
Similarly, in a case involving notes taken by the Secretary to the Board of Regents that he characterized as "personal" in conjunction with a contention that he took notes in part "as a private person making personal notes of observations...in the course of" meetings, the court cited the definition of "record" and determined that the notes did not consist of personal property but rather were records subject to rights conferred by the Freedom of Information Law [Warder v. Board of Regents, 410 NYS 2d 742, 743 (1978)].
In short, based upon the language of the Law and its judicial interpretation, we believe that a datebook would constitute a record subject to rights conferred by the Freedom of Information Law.
Fourth, as a general matter, the Freedom of Information Law is based upon a presumption of access. Stated differently, all records of an agency are available, except to the extent that records or portions thereof fall within one or more grounds for denial appearing in §87(2)(a) through (i) of the Law. From our perspective, two of the grounds for denial are relevant to an analysis of rights of access. Section 87(2)(g) enables an agency to withhold records that:
It is noted that the language quoted above contains what in effect is a double negative. While inter-agency or intra-agency materials may be withheld, portions of such materials consisting of statistical or factual information, instructions to staff that affect the public, final agency policy or determinations or external audits must be made available, unless a different ground for denial could appropriately be asserted. Concurrently, those portions of inter-agency or intra-agency materials that are reflective of opinion, advice, recommendation and the like could be withheld.
Also relevant is §87(2)(b) of the Freedom of Information Law, which permits an agency to withhold records to the extent that disclosure would constitute "an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy." Although the standard concerning privacy is flexible and may be subject to conflicting interpretations, the courts have provided substantial direction regarding the privacy of public employees. It is clear that public employees enjoy a lesser degree of privacy than others, for it has been found in various contexts that public employees are required to be more accountable than others. Second, the courts have found that, as a general rule, records that are relevant to the performance of a public employee' s official duties are available, for disclosure in such instances would result in a permissible rather than an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy [see e.g., Farrell v. Village Board of Trustees, 372 NYS 2d 905 (1975); Gannett Co. v. County of Monroe, 59 AD 2d 309 (1977), aff'd 45 NY 2d 954 (1978); Sinicropi v. County of Nassau, 76 AD 2d 838 (1980); Geneva Printing Co. and Donald C. Hadley v. Village of Lyons, Sup. Ct., Wayne Cty., March 25, 1981; Montes v. State, 406 NYS 2d 664 (Court of Claims, 1978); Powhida v. City of Albany, 147 AD 2d 236 (1989); Scaccia v. NYS Division of State Police, 530 NYS 2d 309, 138 AD 2d 50 (1988); Steinmetz v. Board of Education, East Moriches, Sup. Ct., Suffolk Cty., NYLJ, Oct. 30, 1980); Capital Newspapers v. Burns, 67 NY 2d 562 (1986)]. Conversely, to the extent that records are irrelevant to the performance of one's official duties, it has been found that disclosure would indeed constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy [see e.g., Matter of Wool, Sup. Ct., Nassau Cty., NYLJ, Nov. 22, 1977]. In our opinion, schedules indicating appointments, meetings and the like in which the a public employee has engaged are relevant to the performance of that person's official duties. Therefore, to the extent that the record in question pertains to the performance of the Superintendent's official duties, we believe that disclosure would result in a permissible rather than an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy with respect to the public employee who maintains or is the subject of the datebook.
We direct your attention to a decision that described the intent and utility of the Freedom of Information Law. Specifically, in Capital Newspapers v. Burns, the Court of Appeals, in considering the routine functioning of government held that:
"The Freedom of Information Law expresses this State's strong commitment to open government and public accountability and imposes a broad standard of disclosure upon the State and its agencies (see, Matter of Farbman & Sons v New York City Health and Hosps. Corp., 62 NY 2d 75, 79). The statute, enacted in furtherance of the public's vested and inherent 'right to know', affords all citizens the means to obtain information concerning the day-to-day functioning of State and local government thus providing the electorate with sufficient information 'to make intelligent, informed choices with respect to both the direction and scope of governmental activities' and with an effective tool for exposing waste, negligence and abuse on the part of government officers" (supra, 565-566).
Perhaps the most direct precedent is Kerr v. Koch (Supreme Court, New York County, NYLJ, February 1, 1988). A newspaper reporter was granted access to the "public schedules" of New York City's former Mayor, Edward Koch. However, other more detailed "private" schedules were withheld. In that decision, the court posed the following question: "Will granting access to the Mayor's appointment calendars without redaction urged by respondents as proper, result in an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy?" In response to the question, it was stated that:
"Avoidance of disclosure under FOIL cannot be had by simply placing in documents the unilateral description, 'private' as this would '*** thwart the entire objective of FOIL by creating an easy means of avoiding compliance.'"
Further, in granting access to the records, the Court found that:
"It appears that some private appointment calendar material has been produced for petitioner, with redactions that reduce the worthiness of those documents.
"There is no suggestion of scandal attached to those who are associates of the Mayor, whether they be servants of the public or private individuals. Accordingly there is nothing unwarranted, excessive or unjustifiable in revealing the names of those with whom the Mayor had appointments from time to time. As a public person invested with a public trust, he should be accountable for his associations."
"The passion for secrecy found in the redaction of names from private schedules of the respondents, where luncheon meetings have been billed to the Mayor's expense account, is not justified under the circumstances described here. Mixed, as they appear to be with public documents and records, all kept by the agency of the Mayor's Office, the private schedules are vulnerable under the Freedom of Information Law. Otherwise, liberal construction of FOIL is forfeited and the exemptions in the law are at the mercy of a narrow interpretation."
If an entry in an appointment book is unrelated to the performance of one's official duties, for example, as in the cases of a reference to an appointment with a doctor or spouse, we believe that those portions of the record could be deleted on the ground that disclosure would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. Fifth, one of your questions concerns access to records involving expenditures and reimbursements, particularly those of the Supervisor’s and Finance Director’s. In our opinion, only one of the grounds for denial is pertinent to an analysis of rights of access to those kinds of documents. While §87(2)(a) through (i) might permit that certain aspects of the records in question may be withheld, we believe that the remainder must be disclosed.
In the context of the records at issue, we believe that they are clearly relevant to the performance of the official duties of the Superintendent and other Town officials. Consequently, with the exception of personal details, they must in our view be disclosed. Examples of the kinds of personal details that could be deleted prior to disclosure of the remainder of the records would be such items as home addresses, social security numbers and personal credit card numbers. It also noted that although the front side of cancelled checks have been found to be public, it has been held that the back of the checks may be withheld on the ground that disclosure would result in an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. The court found, in essence, that inspection of the back of a check could indicate how an individual chooses to spend his or her money, which is irrelevant to the performance of that person's duties(see Minerva v. Village of Valley Stream, Supreme Court, Nassau County, May 20, 1981).
The last issue you raise is the accessibility of cellular phone records of the Supervisor. It is emphasized that the introductory language of §87(2) refers to the authority to withhold "records or portions thereof" that fall within the scope of the exceptions that follow. In our view, this phrase evidences a recognition on the part of the Legislature that a single record or report, for example, might include portions that are available under the statute, as well as portions that might justifiably be withheld. That being so, we believe that it also imposes an obligation on an agency to review records sought, in their entirety, to determine which portions, if any, might properly be withheld or deleted prior to disclosing the remainder.
Just as significant, the Court in Gould repeatedly specified that a categorical denial of access to records is inconsistent with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Law. In that case, the agency contended that complaint follow up reports, could be withheld in their entirety on the ground that they fall within the exception regarding intra-agency materials, §87(2)(g). The Court, however, wrote that: "Petitioners contend that because the complaint follow-up reports contain factual data, the exemption does not justify complete nondisclosure of the reports. We agree" (id., 276). The Court then stated as a general principle that "blanket exemptions for particular types of documents are inimical to FOIL's policy of open government" (id., 275). The Court also offered guidance to agencies and lower courts in determining rights of access and referred to several decisions it had previously rendered, directing that:
In the context of the situation that you described, we do not believe that a "blanket denial" of access would be consistent with law, and we are not suggesting that the records sought must be disclosed in full. Rather, based on the direction given by the Court of Appeals in several decisions, the records must be reviewed for the purpose of identifying those portions of the records that might fall within the scope of one or more of the grounds for denial of access. As the Court stated later in the decision: "Indeed, the Police Department is entitled to withhold complaint follow-up reports, or specific portions thereof, under any other applicable exemption, such as the law-enforcement exemption or the public-safety exemption, as long as the requisite particularized showing is made" (id., 277; emphasis added).
cc: Hon. Chris Sampson
Hon. Christopher P. St. Lawrence