For Immediate Release
December 21, 2010
Contact: Doug Gibson
802-223-5247
Court Set To Hear Vermont State Employees Association’s Lawsuit Against State For Charging Union To View Public Records
Tomorrow, December 22, at 10:15 a.m. in Washington County Superior Court, Judge Geoffrey Crawford will hear the Vermont State Employees Association’s (VSEA) lawsuit against the State of Vermont for charging the union approximately $1300 to view public records.
In the summer of 2010, VSEA asked the State to examine documents pertaining to ANR’s elimination of a Fish and Wildlife scientist position which the Legislature had expressly sought to preserve in legislation signed by the Governor. VSEA also asked to inspect the Department of Human Resources’ contracts, internal correspondence, and other documents concerning the State’s expenditure of more than $120,000 to purchase Marshal86 software to monitor state employee internet use. In both cases, VSEA had asked only to view the requested documents, which the union believes, by law, does not trigger any kind of monetary charges. But the State did not agree and refused to make the public records available for inspection without payment.
“In both cases, VSEA simply asked to view the requested records, not make copies,” explained VSEA Associate General Counsel Abigail Winters. “We believe the statute is very clear that citizens cannot be charged under the law to look at public records, and we feel strongly the court will agree.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: Court to hear VSEA public records lawsuit.