Prof. Kirtley Quoted in Pioneer Press on Data Practices Act and Employee Privacy

Professor Jane Kirtley was quoted in an editorial in the Pioneer Press discussing secrecy surrounding the terms of a separation agreement with a Forest Lake school district principal, despite amendments to the Minnesota Data Practices Act in 2012 designed to address this issue. Kirtley pointed out that if the language of the statute is ambiguous, courts are "reluctant to read interpretations into the statute" and will tend to give the records custodian the benefit of the doubt. She added that the problem is particularly acute because, unlike in federal law which has separate Privacy and Freedom of Information Acts, "In Minnesota, we have one law trying to do both, and it's less successful in accomplishing that because there will be competition between openness and privacy."