Keddie v. Rutgers, State University.
| Decision Date | 04 January 1996 |
| Citation | 286 N.J.Super. 285,669 A.2d 247 |
| Parties | , 106 Ed. Law Rep. 238 Wells H. KEDDIE and the Rutgers, Council of AAUP Chapters, Plaintiffs-Appellants/Cross-Respondents, v. RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY, Defendant-Respondent/Cross-Appellant. |
| Court | New Jersey Superior Court — Appellate Division |
Denise Reinhardt, Newark, for appellants/cross-respondents (Reinhardt & Schachter, attorneys; Ms. Reinhardt, of counsel, and on the brief; Nancy Macirowski, on the brief).
John J. Peirano, Newark, for respondent/cross-appellant (Carpenter, Bennett & Morrissey, attorneys; Mr. Peirano, of counsel, and on the brief; James P. Lidon, on the brief).
Before Judges SHEBELL, WALLACE and NEWMAN.
The opinion of the court was delivered by
SHEBELL, P.J.A.D.
This appeal is from a judgment of the Law Division in an action in lieu of prerogative writ pursuant to R. 4:69-1. Plaintiffs, Wells H. Keddie ("Keddie") and the Rutgers Council of American Association of University Professors Chapters ("AAUP"), contend that the defendant, Rutgers, The State University ("Rutgers"), denied them both their common law right of access to certain information, and their statutory rights as conferred by N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 to 4, Right-to-Know Law, by refusing to provide information they requested.
Keddie, a citizen of this State and a professor of Labor Studies at Rutgers, is a former president of Rutgers AAUP. AAUP is an unincorporated association, which represents for purposes of collective negotiation certain faculty members and others employed by Rutgers.
Rutgers "is the instrumentality of the State for the purpose of operating the state university" of the State of New Jersey pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:65-1 to 73, the "Rutgers, the state university law." N.J.S.A. 18A:65-2. There are three major campuses of Rutgers, located in Camden, Newark, and New Brunswick. N.J.S.A. 18A:65-9 states:
This chapter, being deemed and hereby declared necessary for the welfare of the state and the people of New Jersey to provide for the development of public higher education in the state and thereby to increase the efficiency of the public school system of the state, shall be liberally construed to effectuate the purposes and intent thereof.
[emphasis added.]
Plaintiffs requested "public records" from Rutgers, by letter from Keddie to Rutgers' President, Francis H. Lawrence on September 23, 1992. Keddie requested access to the following documents concerning the expenditure of university monies for legal representation and the nature of that representation, in matters related to labor relations, civil rights claims, and all other employment areas:
1. Bills for legal services (or "attorneys' fees statements");
2. IRS forms 1099 issued to law firms (these have not been pursued any further based upon defendant's assertion that these forms do not exist);
3. Accounting, audits, and other financial analyses of funds expended to pay legal bills, together with attorneys' fees statements, ("legal expense information");
4. Submissions by Rutgers to courts, agencies, arbitrators, and other forums and opinions, orders, recommendations and awards issued from such forums; and
5. The identity of any other documents that may contain the information requested.
Keddie's letter, asserting that such documents were public records, maintained:
disclosure is in the best tradition of the public interest, so that the citizens of the State of New Jersey may learn exactly how Rutgers treats and regards its employees. There is no countervailing rule of confidentiality, nor is there any legitimate interest in secrecy.
President Lawrence acknowledged receipt of Keddie's letter, and informed him that the matter had been referred to Rutgers' legal counsel.
Thereafter, University Counsel denied the entire request. By letter dated October 16, 1992, University Counsel asserted that the documents requested were either (a) available otherwise without Rutgers having to forward them; (b) public records but not required to be disclosed; or (c) privileged information which was not otherwise required to be disclosed.
On November 30, 1992, plaintiffs filed their complaint seeking access to public records held by Rutgers, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-2, and the common law. Rutgers filed an answer on February 2, 1993, denying that it was subject to the Right-to-Know Law or common law disclosure of public records. On April 14, 1993, the parties submitted a joint pretrial memorandum that stipulated the facts and set forth their respective legal and factual contentions. A pretrial order was entered April 16, 1993.
Extensive discovery followed. In response to an interrogatory, Rutgers provided plaintiffs with a list of all employment related docketed matters which it has been involved in for the last five years. Also in discovery, Rutgers' procedures for maintaining legal expenses information were revealed, as follows: At University Counsel's request, outside attorneys submit their bills for legal services monthly; the bills are reviewed by University Counsel, and forwarded to the controller's office for payment. The controller's accounts payable unit prepares a "bill head" setting forth the name and address of the law firm, due date, date and amount of the bill. The bill head, with the original outside attorney's bill attached, is forwarded then for approval by an university accountant. After review, it is returned to accounts payable and the bill data is entered into an "accounts payable" database, maintained on microfiche for at least 7 years. The paid legal bills are themselves archived and kept in a "D.E. room" for seven years. Additionally, University Counsel maintains copies of the bills for two years. The university accountant, also, prepares a bi-annual summary of legal expenses for University Counsel. This contains the dollar amounts paid to particular law firms for legal expenses and brief descriptions of the type of payment.
After conducting discovery, the parties cross-moved for summary judgment. Plaintiffs in their motion sought access to documents related to the expenditure of university funds for legal representation in matters related to labor relations, civil rights claims, and other employment related areas, specifically to include, access to bill heads, attorney bills, data collected about attorneys' fees for labor and employment matters, and compilations of attorneys fees paid under authority of University Counsel. Plaintiff also sought all pleadings, briefs, affidavits, and other filings made with courts, agencies and arbitral forums; and an award of costs and fees.
Rutgers, in its cross-motion, argued that it is not subject to the Right-to-Know Law and that plaintiffs presented no genuine issue of material fact. The motions were heard on January 26, 1994. The Law Division judge held:
(1) that defendant is covered by the provisions of the New Jersey Right to Know Act, (the "Act") N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1, et seq.;
(2) that none of the documents to which plaintiffs seek access are public records as defined in the Act;
(3) that the attorneys' fee statements sought by plaintiffs are not common law public records;
(4) that the remainder of the documents sought by plaintiffs are public records within the common law definition; and
(5) that the public interests in nondisclosure manifestly outweigh the plaintiffs' interest in access to the requested common law public records.
On March 31, 1994, an order embodying the judge's decision was entered. It required that Rutgers supply plaintiffs periodically with a list of ongoing labor and employment cases, pending in any tribunal, in which defendant is a party by virtue of its status as an employer, including name, docket number, place of venue and the date the complaint was received by defendant. The judge further ordered that defendant give notice to plaintiffs periodically of employment cases it is involved in after the date of the Order.
On appeal, plaintiffs challenge the trial court's rulings numbered above as 2, 3, and 5, and Rutgers challenges rulings numbered 1 and 4. Additionally, Rutgers challenges that portion of the order requiring it to keep plaintiffs informed of all legal matters which arise, their docket numbers, and places of venue.
The New Jersey Right-to-Know Law states in pertinent part that Except as otherwise provided, ..., all records which are required by law to be made, maintained or kept on file by any board, body, agency, department, commission or official of the State or of any political subdivision thereof or by any public board, body, commission or authority created pursuant to law by the State or any of its political subdivisions, or by any official acting for or on behalf thereof (each of which is hereinafter referred to as the "custodian" thereof) shall, for the purposes of this act, be deemed to be public records. Every citizen of this State, during the regular business hours maintained by the custodian of any such records, shall have the right to inspect such records. Every citizen of this State shall also have the right, during such regular business hours and under the supervision of a representative of the custodian, to copy such records ...
[ N.J.S.A. 47:1A-2.]
Rutgers argues that it is an "instrumentality" of the State, and not an entity that is subject to the Act. It points to N.J.S.A. 18A:65-2, wherein Rutgers is referred to as the "instrumentality of the state for the purpose of operating the state university." [emphasis added]. Rutgers argues that "[b]ecause the term 'instrumentality' is not listed in N.J.S.A. 47:1A-2 among the entities covered by the Act, its plain language, therefore, indicates that instrumentalities are not covered." See Cohen v. UMDNJ, 240 N.J.Super. 188, 195, 572 A.2d 1191 (Ch.Div.1989). Moreover, argues Rutgers, "coverage of the University under the Act would be flatly inconsistent with the Legislature's expressed intention to maintain...
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Keddie v. Rutgers
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