Case Name: Dan HATFIELD, Mike Dunne and Capital City Press v. Bryan BUSH
Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1990-05-30
Citations: 572 So. 2d 588
Docket Number: No. CA 89 2004
Parties: Dan HATFIELD, Mike Dunne and Capital City Press v. Bryan BUSH.
Judges: Before EDWARDS, LANIER and FOIL, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 572
Pages: 588–598

Head Matter:
Dan HATFIELD, Mike Dunne and Capital City Press v. Bryan BUSH.
No. CA 89 2004.
Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.
May 30, 1990.
On Rehearing Jan. 4, 1991.
Frank M. Coates, Jr., Baton Rouge, for plaintiffs-appellees Dan Hatfield, et al.
Sam J. D’Amico and Cheney C. Joseph, Jr., Baton Rouge, for defendant-appellant Bryan Bush.
Before EDWARDS, LANIER and FOIL, JJ.

Opinion:
LANIER, Judge.
This is an action, pursuant to the Louisiana Public Records Law, La.R.S. 44:35, by members of the news media against a custodian of records alleged to be "public", seeking to compel production of the leave records of certain public employees. The record custodian filed two peremptory exceptions; one raised the objection of non-joinder of indispensable parties and the other raised the objection of no cause of action. The exceptions were referred to the merits. After a hearing, the trial court overruled the exceptions, rendered judgment in favor of the media, and issued a writ of mandamus requiring the custodian to produce the records. The custodian took a suspensive appeal. The media answered the appeal seeking attorney fees, costs and damages for frivolous appeal. This court: (1) sustained the peremptory exception raising the objection of failure to join indispensable parties, (2) reversed the trial court judgment which issued the writ of mandamus, and (3) remanded the case to the trial court with orders to (a) direct the record custodian to furnish the names of the indispensable parties to the media within ten days, (b) direct the media to join the indispensable parties in the suit, and (c) conduct a retrial of the case. Hatfield v. Bush, 540 So.2d 1178 (La.App. 1st Cir.1989).
After the remand, the custodian furnished the media with the names of five employees. The media filed an amended petition which made the five named employees parties defendant in the case. The five employees answered, and asserted that their leave records are not public records as a matter of law, and, further, that their leave records "contain information of a personal nature which defendants do not wish released" and "the records reveal information about their non-public activities which should not be released because their reasonable expectation of privacy regarding the information outweighs any possible public interest in the information." The five employees also filed a peremptory exception raising the objection of no cause of action asserting the leave records were not public records within the purview of La. R.S. 44:1.
After a hearing, the trial court overruled the peremptory exceptions of the custodian and the employees and ordered the custodian to produce the requested records. The custodian and employees took this suspen-sive appeal.
FACTS
The basic facts in this case are set forth in Hatfield v. Bush, 540 So.2d at 1180-1181, as follows:
Plaintiffs herein are Mike Dunne, a reporter for the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate; Dan Hatfield, the city editor for the Morning Advocate; and the Capital City Press. On May 17, 1988, Mike Dunne, on his own behalf and apparently on behalf of the other plaintiffs, asked Bryan Bush, the District Attorney (DA) for the Nineteenth Judicial District Court, Parish of East Baton Rouge, to make available to him all records pertaining to the personnel leave of all employees of his office requested and/or taken between February 15 and April 15, 1988. This request was denied in a letter dated June 6, 1988, from the Chief Administrative Officer for the DA addressed to Mike Dunne which provided, in pertinent part, as follows:
Also, you requested all documentation regarding personnel leave of all employees requested or taken between February 15th and April 15, 1988, and in view of the constitutional rights of the privacy of employees as protected by the Louisiana Constitutional [sic], Article 1, Section 5, your request for employee records must be declined.
The blank leave request form [filed of record] shows that a DA employee who wants leave must submit the following information: (1) name; (2) dates absent from work; (3) type of leave request, that is, (a) annual leave, (b) SRCC [Stop Rape Crisis Center] compensatory time, (c) sick leave, (d) leave without pay with an explanation of the reason therefor, and (e) other type of leave with an explanation of the reason therefor; and (4) an emergency address comprised of street, city, state, zip code and telephone number. Annual leave, SRCC compensatory time and sick leave requests require a time verification.
OBJECTION OF NO CAUSE OF ACTION
(Assignments of error 1 and 3)
The DA and the employees assert the trial court "erred as a matter of law in its holding that the vacation/leave forms of individual District Attorney employees was a public record" and "erred in refusal to grant the defendant/appellant's Peremptory Exception of No Cause of Action." In brief, they specifically assert the following:
Notwithstanding the broad scope of R.S. 44:1, the defendant/appellant Bush contends that the particular documents sought are not public records and bases his refusal to release such confidential information on these grounds. First, under R.S. 44:1 the records sought which are kept by the District Attorney as a public body are not kept:
by or under the authority of the Constitution or laws of this State or by or under the authority of any ordinance, regulation, mandate, or order of public body or concerning the receipt of payment of any money received or paid by or under the authority of the Constitution for the laws of this State . R.S. 44:1
The District Attorney in East Baton Rouge Parish has the prerogative to regulate and specify his own policy as to vacation, sick time, and compensation time. Plaintiffs can point to no constitutional, statutory or other authority of either the City Parish government or the State of Louisiana which govern the procedure and qualification for allowing or accounting for authorized leave time of employees of the District Attorney's Office. The vacation forms which are kept by the District Attorney were designed for his use as an internal record keeping device in order to allow him to keep track of vacation, sick, and compensation time. It is clear that the records here are not kept under any authority as required by R.S. 44:1(A)(2), but in fact, such records are kept solely as an internal administrative device.
In McGowan v. Ramey, 484 So.2d 785, 790 (La.App. 1st Cir.1986), appears the following:
The objection of no cause of action raised in a peremptory exception tests the legal sufficiency of the petition and all the allegations of the petition are accepted as true; an objection of no cause of action is sustained only where the law affords no remedy to plaintiff under the allegations of his petition.... If a petition states a cause of action on any ground or portion of the demand, the objection of no cause of action must be overruled.
The media's petition alleges the following:
1.
By letter dated May 17, 1988, Mike Dunne, on his own behalf and on behalf of Dan Hatfield, City Editor for the Morning-Advocate, and Capital City Press, requested that defendant, Bryan Bush, District Attorney, custodian of the records of the Office of District Attorney and a resident of the full age of majority of the Parish of East Baton Rouge, State of Louisiana, make available to him all records pertaining to employees of the Office of the District Attorney relating to leave requested and/or taken by employees of the Office of the District Attorney between February 15 and April 15, 1988.
2.
The petitioners allege that these records constitute public records as defined in L.R.S. 44:1, et seq and that they are entitled to inspect and copy same in accord [sic] with the provisions of L.R.S. 44:31-35.
What constitutes a public record for purposes of the Louisiana Public Records Law, La.R.S. 44:1 et seq., is defined in La.R.S. 44:1(A) as follows:
A. (1) As used in this Chapter, the phrase "public body" means any branch, department, office, agency, board, commission, district, governing authority, political subdivision, or any committee, subcommittee, advisory board, or task force thereof, or any other instrumentality of state, parish, or municipal government, including a public or quasi-public nonprofit corporation designated as an entity to perform a governmental or proprietary function.
(2) All books, records, writings, accounts, letters and letter books, maps, drawings, photographs, cards, tapes, recordings, memoranda, and papers, and all copies, duplicates, photographs, including microfilm, or other reproductions thereof, or any other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, including information contained in electronic data processing equipment, having been used, being in use, or prepared, possessed, or retained for use in the conduct, transaction, or performance of any business, transaction, work, duty or function which was conducted, transacted, or performed by or under the authority of the constitution or laws of this state, or by or under the authority of any ordinance, regulation, mandate, or order of any public body or concerning the receipt or payment of any money received or paid by or under the authority of the constitution or the laws of this state, are "public records," except as otherwise provided in this Chapter or as otherwise specifically provided by law.
(3) As used in this Chapter, the word "custodian" means the public official or head of any public body having custody or control of a public record, or a representative specifically authorized by him to respond to requests to inspect any such public records.
This statute is subject to the standard rules of statutory construction and interpretation. See Bunch v. Town of St. Francisville, 446 So.2d 1357 (La.App. 1st Cir.1984), and the authorities cited therein. Further, because the right of the public to have access to public records is a fundamental right guaranteed by La. Const. of 1974, art. 12, § 3, if there is a doubt as to whether the public has the right to access of certain records, that doubt must be resolved in favor of the public's right to see. Title Research Corporation v. Rausch, 450 So.2d 933 (La.1984).
The pertinent portion of La.R.S. 44:1(A)(2) provides that "[A]ll records, . and papers, . having been used, . or prepared, possessed, or retained for use in the conduct, transaction, or performance of any business, transaction, work, duty or function which was conducted, transacted, or performed . by or under the authority of any . order of any public body . are 'public records' ." The DA is part of the judicial branch of state government; he has charge of every criminal prosecution by the state in his district, represents the state before the grand jury, and is the legal advisor to the grand jury. La. Const, of 1974, art. V, § 26. Thus, the DA is an "instrumentality of state . government" within the purview of La.R.S. 44:1(A)(1). The leave request forms of the DA's employees are "records" which were used "in the conduct of any business . or function" of the DA's office, and this "business . or function . was conducted, transacted, or performed . under authority" of the DA. Accordingly, we conclude the DA's employees leave request forms are public records within the purview of La. R.S. 44:1(A)(2). The trial court judgment which overruled the peremptory exception is correct.
These assignments of error are without merit.
PUBLIC OR PRIVATE NATURE OP THE CONTENTS OF THE LEAVE REQUEST FORMS
(Assignment of error 2)
The DA and the employees assert the trial court "erred as a matter of law in its finding that the information contained in the vacation/leave forms of individual District Attorney employees was not information to which the individual employees had a reasonable expectation of privacy."
The information contained in the leave forms falls into five basic categories: (1) the employees' names, (2) the dates of absence (leave or vacation), (3) the type of absence, (4) the reasons for leave without pay or "other" leave, and (5) an emergency address and phone number while absent.
The applicable law is set forth in Hatfield v. Bush, 540 So.2d at 1181-1183. Initially, we must determine if the privacy exceptions set forth in La.R.S. 44:11 apply. If this statute applies, that is the end of the inquiry. If, however, La.R.S. 44:11 is not applicable, the proper methodology for thereafter analyzing the privacy claims of public employees is set forth in Gannett River States Publishing v. Hussey, 557 So.2d 1154 (La.App. 2nd Cir.1990). First, it must be determined whether the public employee had a reasonable expectation of privacy against disclosure of the pertinent information. If there was no reasonable expectation of privacy, that is the end of the inquiry. If a reasonable expectation of privacy is found, we then must balance the public's right to disclosure against the public employee's right to privacy. Pursuant to La.R.S. 44:35(B), "the burden is on the custodian to sustain his action" in withholding public records. Further, we hold by analogy that the employees bear the burden of showing their right to privacy.
A Public Employee's Name
The name of a public employee is not protected by La.R.S. 44:11. Generally, there is no reasonable expectation of privacy for the name of a public employee. Hatfield v. Bush, 540 So.2d at 1183, n. 11. When a person seeks public employment, the public has a right to know who it is hiring to perform public work. However, there may be special circumstances where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy for the name of a public employee. For example, if a public employee is working in an undercover capacity to secure evidence of a crime, improper disclosure of the employee's name could produce devastating consequences to the employee and/or the investigation in which he is involved. No such claim has been made in the instant case. Under the facts of this case, the names of the pertinent DA's employees are subject to disclosure.
Dates of Absence
La.R.S. 44:11 does not apply to the dates the DA's employees are absent from their public duties. Unless special circumstances are shown, public employees do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy for the dates and times they are required to perform their public duties. The public has a right to know not only who are public employees, but also when public employees perform their duties. If public employees do not perform their duties when they are supposed to, various civil and/or criminal sanctions may come into play. Obviously, if the public knows when a public employee is performing his public duties, it also knows when the public employee is not performing his public duties. Thus, public employees do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy for the dates on which they are not performing their public duties. The dates of absence (leave or vacation) of the pertinent DA's employees are subject to disclosure.
Type of Absence
The types of absence set out in the leave form are (1) annual leave, (2) Stop Rape Crisis Center (SRCC) compensatory time, (3) sick leave, (4) leave without pay, and (5) other. The names of the five DA's employees who were made a party to this suit are Suzanne Fa-Kouri, Gerri Hughes, Marlene Jeansonne, Kim Tally and Carolyn Webber. A review of the leave forms under seal shows that these employees collectively submitted ten leave requests during the period of February 15 to April 15, 1988. Nine requests were for annual leave and one was for sick leave.
La.R.S. 44:11 does not apply to the types of leave that public employees take from their duties. Public employees do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy for a statement that their absence from work is for annual leave. The public has a right to know whether a public employee is entitled to annual (vacation) leave, and, how much annual leave he will get. The employees have not asserted any compelling reason to justify the suppression of disclosure of annual leave time.
Disclosure of sick leave time, and especially the reasons therefor, presents a different problem from that of disclosure of annual leave time. There may be a reasonable expectation of privacy for certain types of sick leave and the reasons therefor. However, in this particular case, the employee in question has not shown any compelling reason to justify the sup pression of - disclosure of the sick leave record.
Emergency Address and Phone Number
The emergency address and phone number portions of the leave forms of the pertinent five DA's employees are blank. Thus, disclosure of addresses and phone numbers is not at issue in the appeal before us.
Conclusion
This assignment of error is without merit.
DECREE
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed. The DA is cast for all costs of $640.80.
AFFIRMED.
. The records under seal herein contain leave forms for numerous employees other than those made parties to this case. The record before us does not explain why only five employees were made parties defendant. The trial court and this court cannot adjudicate issues pertaining to indispensable parties who were not made parties to these proceedings.
. Only a few of the many DA's employee leave forms under seal have the emergency address and phone number sections filled out.