University Rejects Order to Disclose Student Employee Records
by
Joseph C. Maya on Apr. 24, 2017
Summary: Blog post on the privacy afforded to students employed by the university they attend regarding the Freedom of Information Act.
If you have a question or concern about special education law, school administration, federal standards, or the overall rights of a student, please feel free to call the expert education law attorneys at Maya Murphy, P.C. in Westport today at (203) 221-3100 .
In the case of University of Connecticut v. Freedom of Information Commission, a university appealed the order of the superior court ordering the university to provide a list of students employed in the public safety division to a student newspaper.
The Freedom of Information Commission argued that the students were subjects of inquiry in their capacity as employees, not in their capacity as students, and that this difference rendered Connecticut law ambiguous and subject to the rule of construction that exemptions from the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) were to be narrowly construed. The court disagreed, however, and held Connecticut law allowed the university to withhold students' names when those names were being sought due to the student's status as a student. The court also noted that federal regulations included the records of student employees within the definition of educational records which were not subject to disclosure without the students' consent, when their status determined their eligibility for the employment. Furthermore, the law prohibited funding to colleges that disclosed such information. Because the testimony presented was uncontradicted in its conclusion that the students employed by the public safety department held positions reserved exclusively for university students, the Freedom of Information Commission’s ruling was legally erroneous.
The judgment of the superior court was reversed with directions to render judgment supporting the university’s request. “Regardless of the limitation of the request to students who were employees, we construe [state law] to permit withholding of the names of those employees whose student status was a condition of their employment” said the court. “Uncontroverted testimony made clear that the students employed by the department held positions reserved exclusively for students of the university.”
If you have a child with a disability and have questions about special education law, please contact Joseph C. Maya, Esq., at 203-221-3100, or at JMaya@mayalaw.com, to schedule a free consultation.
Source: University of Connecticut v. Freedom of Information Com., 217 Conn. 322, 585 A.2d 690, 1991 Conn. LEXIS 29, 18 Media L. Rep. 1780 (Conn. 1991)