Pawtucket Teachers Alliance Local No. 920, AFT, AFL-CIO v. Brady

• Decision Date: 04 April 1989
• Docket Number: AFL-CIO,No. 87-412-A,87-412-A
• Citation: 556 A.2d 556
• Parties: 52 Ed. Law Rep. 1109 PAWTUCKET TEACHERS ALLIANCE LOCAL NO. 920, AFT,, and Gerald Resnick v. John V. BRADY et al. ppeal.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

Page 556

556 A.2d 556

52 Ed. Law Rep. 1109

PAWTUCKET TEACHERS ALLIANCE LOCAL NO. 920, AFT, AFL-CIO, and Gerald Resnick v. John V. BRADY et al.

No. 87-412-Appeal.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

April 4, 1989.

Richard A. Skolnik, Linda J. Kushner, Lipsey & Skolnik, Ltd., Providence, for plaintiffs.

Stephen Robinson, Asquith, Merolla, Anderson, Ryan & Wiley, Providence, for defendants.

OPINION

MURRAY, Justice.

This is an appeal from a Superior Court judgment denying the plaintiffs' request for a preliminary and permanent injunction. The plaintiffs, Pawtucket Teachers Alliance Local No. 920, AFT, AFL-CIO, ¹ sought to enjoin the defendants from withholding certain records of the Pawtucket School Department. The trial justice found that the plaintiffs had no reasonable probability of success on the merits and denied their prayer for injunctive relief. We affirm.

Before elaborating on the relevant circumstances precipitating this appeal, we shall reiterate our limited scope of review in examining a ruling made by a trial justice while sitting in equity. The decision to grant or deny an injunction is a matter within the sound discretion of the trial court. Paramount Office Supply Co. v. D.A. MacIsaac, Inc., 524 A.2d 1099, 1101 (R.I.1987). In determining whether to issue an injunction, a trial justice should consider four factors: (1) whether the plaintiff has a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits of the case, (2) whether the plaintiff will suffer irreparable harm if the injunction is denied, (3) whether an adequate remedy at law exists, and (4) whether the threatened injury to the plaintiff outweighs the harm to the defendant or the public if the injunction is granted. See R. Leavell, J. Love & G. Nelson, Equitable Remedies, Restitution and Damages 52-93 (West 4th ed.1986) (articulating standard and compiling case law relating to it from various jurisdictions). Only when the trial court clearly abuses its discretion will this court reverse a decision denying a request for temporary or permanent injunctive relief. Bearing this standard of review in mind, we turn to the undisputed facts of the instant case.

In September of 1986, the Pawtucket School Committee (the committee) appointed a new principal to head the Varieur Elementary School in Pawtucket. Shortly thereafter, the committee received a series of complaints regarding the operation of the school and the relationship between the principal and the teaching staff. In response to growing parental concerns, the committee authorized a management study of school operations. Frank Toomey, an outside consultant and expert in the field of educational processes, was retained to investigate the situation and to make recommendations relative to any curative actions. Toomey conducted numerous confidential interviews with both the staff and the principal. He summarized his findings in a written report. This study was presented to the committee at an executive session and ordered sealed pursuant to G.L.1956 (1984 Reenactment) § 42-46-7, as amended by P.L.1985, ch. 373, § 1. Thereafter plaintiffs made both oral and written demands upon the committee for production of Toomey's report, but their requests were denied.

Having exhausted all nonlegal avenues, plaintiffs then filed a complaint in the Superior Court under G.L.1956 (1984 Reenactment) chapter 2 of title 38, the Access to Public Records Act (APRA), seeking injunctive relief in order to obtain the report. Section 38-2-3, as amended by P.L.1984, ch. 372, § 2, of APRA grants every individual the right to inspect and copy all records maintained by public entities subject to twenty-two express exceptions contained in § 38-2-2, as amended by P.L.1986, ch. 203 § 1. ² In denying plaintiffs' claim for equitable relief, the trial justice concluded that the report came within the personnel-record exception of § 38-2-2(d)(1) and therefore exempted it from public access. We agree.

With the passage of chapter 2 of title 38, the Rhode Island Legislature enhanced the First Amendment right of the public and the press to know and have access to information held by various public agencies. The Rake v. Gorodetsky, 452 A.2d 1144, 1146-47 (R.I.1982). The stated purpose of the act provides:

"The public's right to access to records pertaining to the policy-making responsibilities of government and the individual's right to dignity and privacy are both recognized to be principles of the utmost importance in a free society. The purpose of this chapter is to facilitate public access to governmental records which pertain to the policy-making functions of public bodies and/or are relevant to the public health, safety, and welfare. It is also the intent of this chapter to protect from disclosure information about particular individuals maintained in the files of public bodies when disclosure would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy." Section 38-2-1. ³

We are mindful that the basic policy of the act is in favor of disclosure. Survey, Administrative Law, Police Brutality Records Not Exempt From Access to Public Records Act, 18 Suffolk U.L. Rev. 137, 139 (1984). However, the dual purpose of APRA makes clear that the Legislature did not intend to bestow upon the public carte blanche access to all publicly held documents. The Legislature's desire to limit the accessibility of certain documents in order to protect individuals from unwarranted invasions of privacy and to avoid the disclosure of confidential information is further evinced by the numerous exemptions contained in § 38-2-2. Hydron Laboratories, Inc. v. Department of Attorney General, 492 A.2d 135, 137 (R.I.1985). At issue in the present case is the personnel-records exception, § 38-2-2(d)(1), which exempts from public disclosure

"[a]ll records which are identifiable to an individual applicant for benefits, clients, patient, student, or employee; including, but not limited to, personnel, medical treatment, welfare, employment security, and pupil records and all records relating to a client-attorney relationship and to a doctor-patient relationship." (Emphasis added.)

The plaintiffs argue that Toomey's report is a public document subject to the disclosure requirements of APRA. The report pertains to school operations and educational concerns, plaintiffs argue, rather than to the personnel records of any individual. We are unpersuaded. In The Rake, supra, this court considered whether the personnel-records exception of APRA insulated the city of Providence from disclosing certain reports to a news-gathering entity. In that case, a university newspaper sought access to records maintained by the Providence police department relating to civilian complaints of alleged police brutality. Such reports represented the final action taken by the police chief on these matters. We noted that the plain language of APRA required the records in issue to identify a specific individual in order for the personnel-record exemption to apply. Balancing the privacy interests of the police officers identified in the reports against the public's right to know this information, we concluded that public access to the records was proper after the parties' names had been deleted. The public's right to know under APRA, we stated, outweighed the fortuitous possibility that police officers'...