Oregon Health & Science University v. Oregonian Publishing Co.

373 P.3d 1233, 278 Or. App. 189, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 578
CourtMultnomah County Circuit Court, Oregon
DecidedMay 11, 2016
Docket111216443; A152961
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 373 P.3d 1233 (Oregon Health & Science University v. Oregonian Publishing Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Multnomah County Circuit Court, Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Oregon Health & Science University v. Oregonian Publishing Co., 373 P.3d 1233, 278 Or. App. 189, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 578 (Or. Super. Ct. 2016).

Opinion

SERCOMBE, P. J.

Plaintiff Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) is a health and research public university that provides patient care at its hospital. OHSU appeals the trial court’s judgment enjoining it from withholding particular information contained in public records that defendant Oregonian Publishing Company, LLC (The Oregonian) requested under the Oregon Public Records Law (OPRL), ORS 192.410 - 192.505. OHSU contends that the information is exempt from disclosure under the OPRL and that the court erred in compelling its disclosure. As explained below, we conclude that some of the requested information may be exempt from public disclosure if it is contained in a document described in ORS 192.496(1). That subsection exempts from disclosure records that “contain information about the physical or mental health or psychiatric care or treatment of a living individual.” Because the requested public records were not part of the record before the trial court, we cannot determine if any of those records and the information in those records are exempt from disclosure under ORS 192.496(1). We also conclude that the record is insufficient to determine whether one of the relevant records is an “education record” under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 USC § 1232g, and therefore exempt from disclosure under ORS 192.502(8). Accordingly, we remand the case to the trial court to consider the application of ORS 192.496(1) and ORS 192.502(8) to the requested public records. Otherwise, we conclude that disclosure of the requested information in the tort claim notices that are the subject of this appeal is not precluded by state or federal law. Accordingly, we reverse and remand the judgment ordering disclosure and the supplemental judgment awarding The Oregonian its attorney fees.

I. BACKGROUND

The Oregon Tort Claims Act, ORS 30.260 - 30.300, limits the tort liability of public bodies of the state, including OHSU, and regulates the manner in which those claims are prosecuted. ORS 30.275(1) provides that no tort claim “shall be maintained unless notice of claim is given as required by [192]*192this section.” ORS 30.275(4) sets forth a formal method for giving a tort claim notice:

“Formal notice of claim is a written communication from a claimant or representative of a claimant containing:
“(a) A statement that a claim for damages is or will be asserted against the public body or an officer, employee or agent of the public body;
“(b) A description of the time, place and circumstances giving rise to the claim, so far as known to the claimant; and
“(c) The name of the claimant and the mailing address to which correspondence concerning the claim may be sent.”

The Oregonian publishes a newspaper of that name that is of general circulation within Oregon. In 2011, through a reporter, The Oregonian requested that OHSU provide it information from tort claim notices given to OHSU. Specifically,

“[u]nder Oregon Public Records Law, I am requesting a list of tort claims filed against Oregon Health & Science University and its affiliated entities, preferably in spreadsheet form, with information dating back to Jan 1, 2006 and including only the following types of information or data fields: claim number, claimant full name, attorney full name, date of alleged tort, date of tort claim notice, and whether it is closed or open.”

It further noted:

“I am not requesting any information generated in the course of medical treatment. I am not requesting health information of any kind. *** This is tort information, not health information, and it is submitted by individuals voluntarily, outside the course of medical treatment, to a public institution and in a venue—torts against public institutions—that is well recognized to be public information.”

OHSU had received eight tort claim notices during the period of the request. It compiled a document that listed the type of claim asserted in each notice and then either purported to disclose the requested information about that tort claim notice or cited statutory provisions that excused the [193]*193obligation to disclose that information. The eight tort claims notices were described as: “professional liability where litigation filed,” “professional liability where no litigation filed,” “employment liability for faculty,” “employment liability for non-faculty,” “general liability involving students,” “general liability course-of-care patient claims if litigation filed,” “general liability course-of-care patient claims if no litigation filed,” and “other general liability.” The document then listed whether the requested information for each claim (the type of claim, open or closed status, the name of the claimant, the date of the alleged tort, the name of claimant’s attorney, the date of notice, and the claim number) would be disclosed or whether OHSU took the position that the particular information was exempt from disclosure.

In the document, OHSU proposed to disclose all of the information with respect to the “other general liability” claim, but withheld the names of the claimants for all of the remaining claims. It also withheld the dates of the alleged torts and names of the claimants’ attorneys for some of those claims. The document cited one or more of various parts of the OPRL, ORS 353.260, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Privacy Rule, 45 CFR parts 160 and 164 (Privacy Rule),1 and FERPA, 20 USC § 1232g, as the justification for each of the nondisclosures. The Oregonian responded that those policies did not justify any of the nondisclosures.

Pursuant to ORS 192.450 and ORS 192.460,2 The Oregonian petitioned the Multnomah County district attorney for an order directing OHSU to disclose “tort claim notices submitted to OHSU since 2006, including claimant [194]*194name, attorney name, date of tort, date of tort claim notice, and whether it was closed or open.”3 The district attorney ruled that none of the claimed exemptions from disclosure applied and “ordered that OHSU promptly disclose the records sought in the petition.”

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Related

OHSU v. Oregonian Publishing Co., LLC
Oregon Supreme Court, 2017

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
373 P.3d 1233, 278 Or. App. 189, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 578, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/oregon-health-science-university-v-oregonian-publishing-co-orccmultnomah-2016.