Opinion ID: 2457769
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Public Interest Issues and Form of Order.

Text: As noted above, the district contends that certain employee information should not be made available for inspection because disclosing it would be contrary to the public interest. Wyo. Stat. [Ann.] § 16-4-203(g) provides that a custodian may deny the right of inspection of certain specific records which are otherwise subject to inspection on the grounds that inspection would do substantial injury to the public interest. This section would require the district to apply to the district court for an order finding that disclosure would in fact cause substantial injury to the public interest in the case of a particular employee's information, if it chose to deny access. As already mentioned, the district contends that disclosure of at least some of its employees' names could be contrary to the public interest because, for example, those employees might be located by a stalker after publication of their name and salary. The parties seem to agree that if such a discretionary exception is available, it would have to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, probably after an evidentiary hearing. At argument, the district indicated that only a small number of employees could be expected to fall within this category. It is certain that the public interest exception would not exempt all records concerning the terms and conditions of employment of all public employees who work for the district, and the district has never contended that it would. Whether the exception is available as a matter of law in the hypothetical cases posed by the district remains to be seen. The existence of these potential claims to exemption from the disclosure requirement determined in the first portion of this decision leaves the case in an awkward posture. On the one hand, the Court has concluded that the newspaper is correct in its assertion that it is entitled to employee-specific salary information. Once it obtains that information, it is free to publish whatever it chooses concerning it, free of any court-imposed limitations. See New York Times Co. v. U.S., 403 U.S. 713, 714, 91 S.Ct. 2140, 2141, 29 L.Ed. [L.Ed.2d] 822 (1971), quoting Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan, 372 U.S. 58, 70, 83 S.Ct. 631, 639, 9 L.Ed.2d 584 (1963) (noting that a prior restraints come to Court bearing a heavy presumption against constitutional validity). On the other hand, the ruling the Court has made will impact a large number of Laramie County School District employees and may also impact other districts. The district will undoubtedly wish to appeal that ruling to the Wyoming Supreme Court, which is the final arbiter of the meaning of the two statutes involved in this case. The Court believes that it is in the best interest of both parties to secure the entry of a final judgment which will permit review by that court as soon as possible. However, the district argues that the Court should stay its decision until it can resolve the public interest exception cases, if there are any. This could take some time, since each is case-specific and there is as of yet no indication as to the number of such cases. The newspaper has indicated that it has no interest in causing problems for employees who might, for example, be victimized by a stalker, if there are any, and so there may be no cases to resolve because it would in all likelihood not pursue information pertaining to those employees. The Court intends, absent a showing that such action is improper, to enter a final order declaring the newspaper's general entitlement to the information contained in its request without resolving the public interest exception issue pertaining to particular employees in this case for the following reasons:  In its motion for summary judgment, the newspaper asked the Court to declare its rights under the WPRA as they relate to the records request it made of the district, which was for information which would permit it to connect particular salary information to particular employees. The district contended that it was not permitted to make this general class of information available. The Court has resolved that issue by declaring the rights and duties of the parties.  Wyoming Statute § 16-4-203(d) requires that a custodian who withholds a particular record apply to the district court for an order finding that disclosure of that record would do substantial injury to the public interest. The district did not counterclaim as to any particular record, although it raised the above as an affirmative defense. The district admittedly had good reason not to counterclaim earlier, because it faced the massive task of contacting some fifteen hundred employees, and because the Court scheduled this issue for later disposition.  The question of potential injury to any particular employee is fact-intensive and likely to require considerable time for resolution, during which the district could not appeal of right to the Wyoming Supreme Court.  The Court's decision as to the newspaper's general right of access does not address any particular case, and the district would presumably be able to file an appropriate action to resolve the public interest exception cases without fear that this decision would in some way bind it in those proceedings.  It is quite likely that any meritorious claim of potential injury to an employee will be resolved by agreement.  If a stay of the above decision declaring the newspaper's general right of access is necessary, one can be sought under Wyoming Rule of Appellate Procedure 4.02. Because the decision contemplated is a departure from the process developed in the scheduling conference, a hearing on the form of relief will be set on the request of either party.