Appellate Court Orders FOIA Disclosure Of Internal Employee Investigative Files
Legal updates
Appellate Court Orders FOIA Disclosure Of Internal Employee Investigative Files
March 17, 2014
The Illinois Appellate Court for the First District recently issued a decision that further confirms FOIA’s applicability to internal personnel and disciplinary investigation files. Specifically, the Court in Kalven v. City of Chicago, 2014 IL App (1st) 121846 determined that investigatory records, by themselves, are not “records relating to a public body’s adjudication of employee grievances or disciplinary cases” under Section 7(1)(n) of FOIA. 5 ILCS 140/7(1)(n). This is the latest Illinois judicial decision to examine the application of FOIA to the Chicago Police Department’s complaint register (“CR”) files. The CR files contain the Department’s investigatory records relating to citizen complaints about police officers. Past disputes had resulted in the Appellate Court determining that these files were not exempt based on confidentiality grounds or as “personnel records” under a prior version of FOIA. See Watkins v. McCarthy, 2012 IL App (1st) 100632.
In the Kalven decision, the City made a different legal argument, based on the assertion that CR files are the first step in the Department’s disciplinary process, and are thus related to “adjudicatory proceedings” within the meaning of FOIA’s Section 7(1)(n) exemption. The Court rejected this argument, however, reasoning that a mere investigation may or may not lead to discipline. The Court also stated that the plain language of the exception “appears to be limited to documents connected to formalized legal proceedings that involve [grievances or disciplinary cases] and that result in a final and enforceable decision.” The City had also argued that the investigative records were exempt because the records contained recommendations regarding disciplinary action. The Court rejected this argument as well, theorizing that the “preliminary draft” FOIA exemption generally applies only to “the opinions that public officials form while creating government policy.” Because the CR files contained mostly factual information, the Court determined that the files were open to disclosure, with narrow redactions allowed for any literal “recommendations” contained in the files. You can access a copy of the Kalven decision by clicking here.
Kalven and other similar FOIA decisions highlight the importance for Illinois public employers to think “strategically” when beginning an internal investigation into employee misconduct. A variety of factors can ultimately affect the “discoverability” of such investigatory files, including their author, format and contents. Please contact a Clark Baird Smith LLP attorney for further information about such strategic considerations.
Created by Olive + Ash.
Managed by Olive Street Design. 