Morning Call, Inc. v. HOUSING AUTHORITY OF CITY OF ALLENTOWN

Decision Date21 March 2001
Citation769 A.2d 1246
PartiesThe MORNING CALL, INC., v. The HOUSING AUTHORITY OF the CITY OF ALLENTOWN, U.G.I. Utilities, Inc. and Housing and Redevelopment Insurance Exchange. Appeal of U.G.I. Utilities, Inc.
CourtPennsylvania Commonwealth Court

Kevin T. Fogerty, Allentown, for appellant.

Malcolm J. Gross, Allentown, for appellee, The Morning Call.

Richard W. Shaffer, Allentown, for appellee, the Housing Authority of the City of Allentown.

Before COLINS, Judge, SMITH, Judge, and MIRARCHI, Senior Judge.

SMITH, Judge.

U.G.I. Utilities, Inc. (UGI) appeals from an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County that directed the Housing Authority of the City of Allentown (Housing Authority), UGI and the Housing and Redevelopment Insurance Exchange (HARIE) to provide The Morning Call, Inc. (Morning Call) with full access to a General Release (Release) between UGI, the Housing Authority and HARIE pursuant to Section 4 of the act commonly known as the Right to Know Act (Act), Act of June 21, 1957, P.L. 390, as amended, 65 P.S. § 66.4. UGI contends that the trial court erred in ordering production of a full, unredacted copy of the Release because the Release contains a confidentiality clause and because portions of the Release do not involve the receipt or disbursement of funds by a public agency.

This litigation arises from an explosion at the John T. Gross Towers Apartment Building on June 9, 1994. The Housing Authority owns and manages the building, and HARIE insures the building for casualty loss. The Housing Authority filed suit seeking damages for the losses it sustained in the explosion from UGI and Environmental Preservation Associates, Inc. HARIE reimbursed the Housing Authority for its insured losses and thereby became subrogated to the Housing Authority's claims arising from the explosion to the extent of the reimbursement. In July 1999, UGI entered into the Release with the Housing Authority and UGI. The Release is a single document that discontinued the Housing Authority's action in the trial court with prejudice.

The Release requires UGI to pay a total sum which remains undisclosed, of which $275,000 was to be paid to the Housing Authority for its uninsured losses and an additional undisclosed amount was to be paid to HARIE for its subrogation claim. The Release also provides that its terms "shall remain confidential to the fullest extent permitted by law, and that said confidentiality is a material condition and provision of this Release." Release, at p. 6. When a Morning Call reporter requested a copy of the Release from the Housing Authority, the Morning Call was provided with only a redacted copy of the Release. The total amount paid by UGI to the Housing Authority and HARIE was redacted from the copy as well as the amount paid to HARIE in its subrogation claim.

The Housing Authority informed the Morning Call reporter that it was unable to provide a full, unredacted copy of the Release because UGI was not willing to waive the confidentiality clause. The Morning Call filed a statutory appeal of the Housing Authority's decision to the trial court pursuant to Section 4 of the Act. The trial court determined that the Housing Authority is an agency and that the Release is a public record not within any exception under the Act. The court noted that redaction of material from public records is a device that should be used sparingly, and the court rejected UGI's argument that material should be redacted in this case because of the Release's confidentiality clause. Thus the trial court sustained the Morning Call's appeal and ordered full disclosure of the Release.1

UGI argues that the trial court erred by ordering full disclosure of the Release. UGI does not contest the trial court's conclusion that the Housing Authority is an agency under the Act or that the Release is a public record insofar as it concerns the Housing Authority. UGI however argues that the trial court should have allowed the Housing Authority to redact the information relating to HARIE from the Release on grounds that the information relating to UGI's settlement with HARIE would not be subject to disclosure if it were contained in a separate document. UGI notes that Section 4 of the Act grants the trial court authority to "enter such order for disclosure as it may deem proper." UGI maintains that information which the Act does not require to be disclosed may be redacted from a public record before disclosure.

UGI contends that this Court has approved redaction in analogous cases, citing PG Publishing Company v. County of Washington, 162 Pa.Cmwlth. 196, 638 A.2d 422 (1994), and Times Publishing Company, Inc. v. Michel, 159 Pa.Cmwlth. 398, 633 A.2d 1233 (1993). In both of these cases, however, the redacted material was protected...

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    • United States
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    • October 1, 2003
    ...that public entity in its official capacity, and is a "public record" within the meaning of the Act. See Morning Call, Inc. v. Housing Auth. of the City of Allentown, 769 A.2d 1246 (Pa.Cmwlth.2001). The issue presented in the instant matter only arises where a settlement agreement is negoti......
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