Open-records office clarifies new law

February 25, 2009 at 12:04a.m.

Of the six decisions issued so far under the new law, three were denials of appeals.

HARRISBURG (AP) — Names of employees of government contractors and birth dates of government employees are public information, the state Office of Open Records has ruled in some of the first appeals under Pennsylvania’s new Right-to-Know Law.

In decisions involving the Quakertown Community School District and the Port Authority of Allegheny County that were issued Thursday and made public Monday, the agency said the information is not covered by an exception in the law for certain personal information.

In Quakertown, the school district granted a request to release certified payroll forms for a subcontractor working on a school renovation project, but blacked out the employees’ names.

In its appeal, the school cited the exception for information such as Social Security numbers, drivers’ license numbers and personal telephone numbers.

Dena Lefkowitz, the appeals officer who handled both cases for the open-records office, noted that the same section of the law says explicitly that the exception does not apply to names.

Alice Bishop, the district’s open-records officer, said it does not plan to appeal and will comply with the ruling.

“The law is kind of vague,” she said, but “now we know.”

In Pittsburgh, WTAE-TV requested a copy of the port authority’s payroll. The authority provided all the information except employees’ birth dates, citing the same personal-information exception as well as a 2005 Commonwealth Court decision based on the previous Right-to-Know Law that was repealed with the passage of the current law.

The port authority’s lawyer did not return telephone messages seeking comment on the ruling.

Of the six decisions issued so far under the new law, three were denials of appeals. One case involved records that no longer existed because the Department of Public Welfare had destroyed them in accordance with its record-retention policy, as the law allows. Another appeal was rejected because it did not specify which records were being sought.

Office director Terry Mutchler said the agency’s track record reflects its fairness.

“I have repeatedly said that the law is our client, and I believe these initial appeals demonstrate that the Office of Open Records takes a fair and balanced approach,” she said.