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Board counsel: investigator—s report public but employee identities must be redacted
Summary
Board attorney Jim Martin told the Robbinsdale board the investigator—s report is subject to open-meeting law and must be discussed publicly, but any nonpublic personnel data must be redacted before release to avoid liability.
At the outset of the Aug. 26 special meeting, board legal counsel Jim Martin explained that under Minnesota open-meeting law and the state Department of Administration advisory opinion cited in his remarks, the decision to hire an external investigator means the board—s subsequent disciplinary deliberations must be public. Martin said the written report is public because board members are elected officials, but that the names and identifying details of district employees contained in the report are private under the data-practices act and must be redacted before any public distribution.
Martin warned board members that disclosing nonpublic employee data outside required request channels could create significant legal exposure for both the board and the district. He said the district will provide a redacted version of the report to members of the public upon request and urged directors not to disclose private data before attorneys complete redaction.
