Parsons v. Urban Redevelopment Authority

• Decision Date: 15 February 2006
• Citation: 893 A.2d 164
• Parties: James PARSONS, Reporter for WTAE-TV v. URBAN REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF PITTSBURGH, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court

893 A.2d 164

James PARSONS, Reporter for WTAE-TV v. URBAN REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF PITTSBURGH, Appellant.

Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued October 18, 2005.

Decided February 15, 2006.

Ira Weiss, Pittsburgh, for appellant.

Justin Peacock, New York City, for appellee.

BEFORE: SMITH-RIBNER, Judge, COHN JUBELIRER, Judge, and McCLOSKEY, Senior Judge.

OPINION BY Judge SMITH-RIBNER.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh (URA) appeals from an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County (trial court) that sustained the appeal of James Parsons (Parsons), a reporter for WTAE-TV, from the URA's final determination denying some aspects of a request for information regarding repayment of URA loans. The question involved is whether the trial court erred in concluding that the public's interest in disclosure of private loan histories of individuals or businesses who obtain loans from the URA outweighs any privacy rights that a business has or any reputational harm that it might suffer.

On August 5, 2004, Parsons submitted a written request to the URA pursuant the Act commonly referred to as Pennsylvania's "Right-to-Know Act," Act of June 21, 1957, P.L. 390, as amended, 65 P.S. §§ 66.1-66.9 (Act). The request asked for access to documents concerning the Pittsburgh Business Growth Fund, the Urban Development Fund and the Streetface Program (Funds) for calendar years 2002, 2003 and 2004 to date that included: (a) names and locations of all businesses or entities that received loans from those Funds; (b) all loan applications for those businesses that received loans; (c) the amount of money loaned to each and the conditions of each loan and the terms of repayment; and (d) the payment history of each loan recipient. On September 4, 2004, the URA granted access to many of the documents but denied access to payment history for loan recipients, stating that such documents are not public records because the borrowers' right to privacy would be infringed, and disclosure might operate to the prejudice or impairment of their reputations. On October 15, 2004, the Assistant General Counsel provided a final determination responding to Parsons' arguments.

On February 4, 2005, the court reversed the URA determination and ordered it to make the payment history of each recipient of a loan from 2002 to the present available to Parsons. The court quoted from Section 2 of the Act, 65 P.S. § 66.2, before its amendment by Section 2 of the Act of June 29, 2002, P.L. 663, regarding the basic right of examination and inspection: "Every public record of an agency shall, at all reasonable times, be available for examination and inspection by any citizen of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania."¹ It also quoted the definition of "public record" in Section 1, 65 P.S. § 66.1:

Any account, voucher or contract dealing with the receipt or disbursement of funds by an agency ... Provided, That the term "public records" . . . shall not include any record, document, material, exhibit, pleading, report, memorandum or other paper, access to or the publication of which ... would operate to the prejudice or impairment of a person's reputation or personal security. . . .

The trial court stated that this Court has interpreted the personal security and personal reputation exceptions as creating a privacy exception to the Act's general rule of disclosure, citing Cypress Media, Inc. v. Hazleton Area School Dist., 708 A.2d 866 (Pa.Cmwlth.1998) (holding that applications for teaching positions that contained much confidential information protected by law need not be disclosed). The court referred to Times Publishing Co., Inc. v. Michel, 159 Pa.Cmwlth. 398, 633 A.2d 1233, 1239 (1993): "[C]onsiderations of personal privacy . . . are . . . relevant in determining whether information is subject to public disclosure under the Act." Quoting Tribune-Review Publishing Co. v. Westmoreland County Housing Authority, 574 Pa. 661, 833 A.2d 112 (2003), the court stated that the intent of the Act is to ensure access to official information; the requester must establish that the requested material is a public record, and if he or she is successful the agency must prove that the record should not be disclosed.

The URA conceded that the requested records were public records on their face but argued that direct harm to the reputation and livelihood of a small business from being publicly labeled as "delinquent" outweighed any benefit of disclosing its identity and payment history. Parsons argued, as a threshold matter, that the exception for impairment of reputation does not apply to businesses. The trial court stated that the Act does not define "person," but it quoted the definition in Section 1991 of the Statutory Construction Act of 1972, 1 Pa.C.S. § 1991, which provides that "unless the context clearly indicates otherwise," the term "[i]ncludes a corporation, partnership, limited liability company, ... government entity (other than the Commonwealth), estate, trust, foundation or natural person." It therefore concluded that the context and case interpretations indicated that the personal security exception applies only to natural persons but that the reputation exception is not so limited. In Times Publishing Co. the Court recognized that the reputation and personal security exceptions related to a right of privacy protected by Article I, Sections 1 and 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution.

The trial court rejected Parsons' argument that the URA's response was insufficient, and it determined that the URA clearly was arguing that direct harm to reputations would result. The court noted, however, that under Times Publishing Co. a finding of reputational harm does not automatically result in exemption. Rather such a finding triggers the need for a balancing of competing interests. On this final point, the court stated that the public has a strong interest in knowing to whom public funds are being loaned and whether they are being repaid so that the wisdom of the disbursements may be evaluated and public officials may be held accountable. Public knowledge protects against malfeasance, misfeasance or waste. The court concluded that the public's interest overweighs any privacy rights that a business has in the information requested or any reputational harm.²

The URA maintains that the trial court erred in determining that the public's interest in disclosure of private loan histories of individuals or businesses outweighs any right to privacy or any reputational harm that a business would suffer from such disclosure. The URA cites Tribune-Review Publishing Co. v. Allegheny County Housing Authority, 662 A.2d 677 (Pa. Cmwlth.1995), where the Court reversed a grant of access to housing authority payroll records, for the proposition that the Court has interpreted the personal security and personal reputation exceptions as creating a privacy exception. Although acknowledging that the definition of public record has been interpreted liberally, the URA asserts that Parsons' request goes beyond the liberal definition and serves no purpose other than to identify borrowers that may be struggling financially.

The URA contends that loan applications contain much information that is not within the meaning of public record under the personal security exception, including home addresses, telephone numbers, Social Security numbers, bank account numbers and other confidential information, citing Cypress Media in support. In Times Publishing Co. the Court held that disclosure of home addresses, telephone numbers and Social Security numbers contained in applications for licenses to carry firearms would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, outweighing any public benefits. In Cypress Media, even though the qualifications of public school teachers were involved, the Court held that the privacy interests outweighed the public benefits. The URA agrees that the public has an interest in knowing whether loans are being repaid but asserts that it is not necessary to identify specific borrowers and to publish their private information. Payment histories could be disclosed without identifying individual borrowers.

Parsons first renews his contention that the exception for "any record . . . which would operate to the prejudice or impairment of a person's reputation or personal security" in Section 1, as well as the privacy exception acknowledged in Times Publishing Co., does not apply to commercial information of businesses. Agreeing with the trial court that the personal security exception applies only to natural persons, Parsons argues that the court's interpretation gives two different meanings in the same sentence to the term "person." He submits that the privacy exception recognized in Times Publishing Co. was derived from the personal security exception and that it also should be limited to natural persons. Parsons maintains that there is a general principle that businesses do not possess a right to privacy, citing federal or common pleas court cases not binding here.

If the privacy exception is available, Parsons contends that the URA has not met its burden to show that disclosure would harm a business' reputation and notes that cases have rejected overly speculative claims of harm to reputation.³ Parsons further contends that the URA's rationale does not support withholding of payment histories of all borrowers when only some are delinquent (and have not been named publicly already through lawsuits) and those that are not will suffer no harm to reputation by disclosure. As part of its response to the request, the URA stated that of ninety-two loans made since 2000 through the Pittsburgh Growth Fund and the Urban Development Fund programs, twenty-two were more than six months delinquent. It declined to identify borrowers against whom it has filed suit.

Parsons' second overall argument is that if a balancing was necessary, then the trial court...