Times argues D.149 settlement is public record

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BY PHIL ROCKROHR
Times Staff Writer | Thursday, January 08, 2004 | (No comments posted.)

CHICAGO - The spending of public money, a public employee's job performance and a public body's alleged malfeasance are matters of public record, an attorney for The Times argued Wednesday.

Not so, if the release of those records violates the privacy of the public employee and they contain "personal files and personal information maintained in respect to employees," a Dolton School District 149 attorney countered in Cook County Circuit Court.

Both attorneys made those arguments at the Daley Center before Judge Deborah Dooley, who did not rule on The Times' request for a summary judgment in its lawsuit against District 149.

Dooley said she will issue a written ruling, but did not say when.

The Times is seeking the terms of a settlement between District 149 and former Superintendent Doris Hope-Jackson under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.

Dorkin argued the public is entitled to know how much District 149 agreed to spend in the settlement. He also said any information that "bears on the public duties of public employees and officials" is public record under the FOI Act.

"This was not a private relationship," Dorkin said. "This was a public relationship with a public employee who alleged public malfeasance."

District 149 is not obligated to release the settlement under two exceptions to the FOI Act, said John Donahue, attorney for the district.

Disclosing the records "is clearly an unwarranted invasion of privacy," Donahue said. He suggested their release might negatively affect Hope-Jackson's career as a school administrator.

"Relationships can go bad. If they do, should a public employee be marred for life because that happens?" Donahue asked. "I think you have this woman's future employability in your hands."

The Times has published at least five stories on the dispute between District 149 and Hope-Jackson, he said. Those stories contain all of the information available in public records, Donahue said.

"It only goes to show, what public interest will be served by releasing the information, other than to harm the individual?" he said.

The records were made public by Hope-Jackson, who in effect waived her rights to privacy by releasing them, Dorkin said.

The Times does not need access to the entire settlement to determine how much District 149 paid Hope-Jackson as part of it, Donahue said.

"Copies of the checks could be obtained," he said.

Dooley asked Donahue if the district would be willing to provide that information Wednesday.

"No," he said.

At the heart of the suit:
Citing the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, The Times is seeking the terms of a settlement between School District 149 and former Superintendent Doris Hope-Jackson.
Hope-Jackson sued the school district after the School Board placed her on "remediation" for refusing, she alleged, to do political favors for some board members.
As part of the settlement, the district agreed to give Hope-Jackson a 2003 Mercedes-Benz C240W and a $50,000 term life insurance policy, according to a letter her attorney wrote to District 149 last July.
Hope-Jackson also sought some $240,000, including lost wages, in the lawsuit, said Eric Dorkin, an attorney for The Times.
The settlement resolved Constitutional and contractual violations alleged by Hope-Jackson, job performance complaints alleged by the district and the term of her contract as superintendent, he said.
"By settling, they said this has nothing to do with the public," Dorkin said. "It has everything to do with the public."

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