Some public employees’ workplace issues are still shielded from the public by employee privacy rights, but when you’re running for office, don’t be surprised when the press starts suing to get your records. Jeff Richardson of the Daily News-Miner reports:
A Superior Court judge ruled on Saturday that most of the Fairbanks North Star Borough personnel documents of U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller should be released to the public.
Judge Winston Burbank said that the majority of Miller’s borough personnel records are of public interest. Miller, the Republican nominee in the Senate race, worked as a part-time borough attorney from 2002-09.
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and Alaska Dispatch website filed lawsuits on Oct. 11 asking for a more thorough release of Miller’s records, and were subsequently joined by the Anchorage Daily News and Associated Press. Miller had argued against those documents being released to the public, saying that such a move would violate his privacy rights.
The records being sought include those related to his resignation from the borough in 2009 and any disciplinary actions taken against him by the borough administration. Burbank said the public has a legitimate public interest in such cases.
“The public’s need to know is more compelling than Mr. Miller’s right to privacy, since he is now a candidate for U.S. Senate,” he said.
Read more:in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner