Warden v. Bennett, 76--250

• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: GRIMES; McNULTY, C.J., and SCHEB
• Citation: Warden v. Bennett, 340 So.2d 977 (Fla. App. 1976)
• Decision Date: 29 December 1976
• Docket Number: No. 76--250,76--250
• Parties: 94 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2383 Marcia D. WARDEN, Appellant, v. Michael M. BENNETT et al., Appellees.

Page 977

340 So.2d 977

94 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2383

Marcia D. WARDEN, Appellant, v. Michael M. BENNETT et al., Appellees.

No. 76--250.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.

Dec. 29, 1976.

Larry G. Turner of Goldin, Turner & Cates, Gainesville, for appellant.

Edward A. Turville of McClure & Turville, St. Petersburg, for appellees.

GRIMES, Judge.

This is an appeal from an order denying a petition for mandatory injunction to furnish certain information and records under the Public Records Act.

Appellant, Warden, is a citizen of the State of Florida and a labor organizer for the Communication Workers of America. Appellee, Bennett, is the president of the St. Petersburg Junior College. Warden brought suit against Bennett and the trustees of the college asserting that she had been illegally refused access to those records containing the names and addresses of the employees of the college and denied the right to be furnished with copies of the working papers used in preparing the college budget. Warden admitted that she was seeking this information for the purpose of assisting in her efforts to organize the employees of the college. The court dismissed the petition holding that the defendants were not obligated by law to furnish these records.

It is not seriously suggested that these were not public records within the purview of Chapter 119, Florida Statutes. See City of Gainesville v. State ex rel. I.A.F.F., Lc. 2157, 298 So.2d 478 (Fla.1st DCA 1974). Likewise, there is no intimation that the time required of the college employees to furnish these records would unreasonably disrupt the orderly business of the college or that Warden was unwilling to pay the reasonable cost of furnishing these records. The court's ruling was essentially based upon four grounds which shall be discussed in turn.

First, it was said that the public policy of the state as reflected by Section 447.201, Florida Statutes (1974), is neither to encourage nor discourage organization of public employees and that to furnish Warden with the requested material would be improperly aiding the organization of the college's employees. We find it difficult to comprehend how the furnishing of public records would violate the spirit of Chapter 447, Part II, Florida Statutes (1974), sometimes called the Public Employees Relations Act. Moreover, the Public Records Act does not direct itself to the motivation of the person who seeks the records, and the purpose for which Warden sought these records was certainly not illegal. The fact that she intended to use them to help her in her labor organizing was irrelevant.

The court further indicated that the college might be committing an unfair labor practice by providing the records to Warden in her capacity as a labor organizer and, therefore, it was necessary for Warden to first exhaust her administrative remedies before the Public Employees Relations Commission under Chapter 447. Our court held in Public Employees Relations Commission v. Fraternal Order of Police, Local Lodge No. 38, 327 So.2d 43 (Fla.2d DCA 1976), that the federal doctrine of preemption is applicable to the activities of public employers in Florida who commit acts which are arguably unfair labor practices. But with all due respect, we cannot see how the furnishing of the records requested in this case pursuant to a statutory mandate could 'arguably' be considered an unfair labor practice. Cf. Maxwell v. School Board of Broward County, 330 So.2d 177 (Fla.App., 4th DCA 1976). The refusal to furnish the records might come closer to being an unfair labor practice, but there is nothing in the Public Records Act that would intimate that a citizen's right to public records is conditioned upon first asserting an unfair labor practice before the Public Employees Relations Commission whenever the refusal to furnish the records might constitute such a practice.

Thirdly, the court felt that to require the college to provide the requested information would be to bypass the collective bargaining process and contradict Rule 8H--3.27 of the Public Employees Relations Commission. This rule reads as follows:

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