Court Opinion

ID: 9761968
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 02:03:23.949812+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:28.438052
License: Public Domain

DIES, Chief Justice
(dissenting).
I would go further than the majority opinion and hold that the information desired by the Industrial Foundation of the Southwest cannot.be obtained. The Texas Open Records Act [Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 6252-17a § 1 (1974-1975) ] on which the trial court based his judgment herein declares that “all persons are, unless otherwise expressly provided by law, at all times entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts of those who represent them as public officials and employees.” The information on a notice of injury or claim for workmen’s compensation can by no stretch of the imagination be an “official act . . . [of] public officials and employees.” They are private disclosures which may at times be extremely sensitive, embarrassing, even detrimental to the individual concerned. The trial court recognized this by exempting in his order “injury to the genitalia of the body.”
The Act [§ 2(2) (1974-5) of the Tex. Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann.] defines public records as “the portion of all documents, writings, letters, memoranda, or other written, printed, typed, copied, or developed materials which contains public information.” I do not regard the information appellee wishes to computerize as public information.
Art. 8307 § 4 of Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. (1967) allows the Industrial Accident Board to “make rules not inconsistent with this law for carrying out and enforcing its provisions.” The Board has adopted Rule 9.040 as follows:
“As a prerequisite for approval of a request for a record check . . . on a claimant, there must be a workmen’s compensation claim for the named claimant open or pending before this Board or on appeal to a court of competent jurisdiction from the Board at the time the record search request ... is presented to this Board. The first, middle and last name of the claimant, age and social security number, and if possible, dates of injury and the name of prior employers must be given in request for . . . a record check.” (1961, Rev.1974)
This is a reasonable rule and offers protection to parties interested in claims before the Board.
No law is good law unless it makes good sense. It does not make good sense to me to computerize the information appellee wishes on hundreds of thousands of individuals in the files of the Industrial Accident Board.
If one. of the purposes of securing this information is to screen job applicants, it violates the spirit of Texas law. See Tex. Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 8307c § 1 (1974-5); art. 5196 (1971); art. 5196c (1974-5).