Budget Veto Protects Privacy, Openness in Government
Public employees’ privacy rights were retained when the governor
vetoed a last-minute insertion in the state budget bill, according to
the president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council.
“Educators and other public employees are gratified the governor
eliminated a budget provision that had the potential to invade workers’
privacy without their knowledge or consent,” WEAC President Terry
Craney said. “People who dedicate their lives to public service
- whether they are school employees, police officers, firefighters,
or other public employees - deserve respect.”
The amendment would have reversed a 1996 Wisconsin Supreme Court decision,
Woznicki v. Erickson, which granted individuals the right to be informed
if the government plans to release records containing personal information.
Woznicki v. Erickson also gave individuals the right to ask a judge
to decide whether the records should be released.
“The Woznicki case established a fair process for open records
requests,” Craney said. “The decision does not change the
substance or the spirit of the open records law, which still requires
officials to balance the privacy rights of an individual with the public’s
interest in seeing the information.”
Craney said the Woznicki ruling means employees have the right to ask
a court to determine whether the public is served by the release of
their personnel records. “It does not mean individuals or organizations
requesting information automatically face expensive lawsuits,”
he said. Craney said judges will be able to prevent the release of records
containing false or unsubstantiated information which could unfairly
damage reputations and invade privacy.
In a 1996 Vernon County case, the judge called a report resulting from
an investigation of a teacher “scurrilous,” saying it should
not be released because the report contained accusations without factual
basis.
“The governor’s veto retains a standard of fairness for all
public employees,” Craney said.
Posted October 13, 1997