Giuliano v. Freedom of Information Commission

Syllabus

In each of two cases, the defendant Freedom of Information Commission appealed from the judgment of the trial court sustaining an appeal from the commission's decision ordering the disclosure of unredacted records after rejecting the claims of the city of Middletown that the requested information was protected. A city employee alleged that the city's mayor had harassed her and a union representing city employees alleged that the mayor had improperly solicited campaign contributions from its members. In response to these complaints, the city's legislative body, the common council, hired a law firm to conduct an investigation. In the first case, the defendant D, a former member of the common council, sent a request to the plaintiff, the clerk of the common council, for, inter alia, invoices submitted to the city by the law firm in connection with its investigation. In response, the clerk sent D the requested records after redacting the names of city employees and the dates on which meetings occurred between those employees and the law firm's attor- neys. Thereafter, D filed a complaint with the commission challenging the redactions with respect only to the name of the clerk and the dates of the meetings. Following a hearing, the commission ordered that the requested records be produced without the contested redactions. The clerk appealed to the trial court, which sustained her objection, determining that the redacted information was exempt from disclosure pursuant to the applicable statute (§ 1-210 (b) (2) and (10)), and the commission appealed to this court. In the second case, the defendant mayor filed a complaint with the commis- sion after the clerk produced redacted records in response to his request for, inter alia, communications between the law firm and the city. The commission ordered the disclosure of certain records but permitted the redaction of the names of then current city employees and their job titles. Thereafter, the plaintiffs, two members of the co