Newspaper, UNCG At Odds Over Records

A local newspaper is questioning UNC Greensboro's response to a public records request. The News & Record of Greensboro wants documents connected to the firing and arrest of three employees in September.

UNCG has released some records connected to the firings of two photographers and their supervisor last month. The News & Record of Greensboro argues it's not enough and more records should be released. The newspaper has asked for copies of a departmental review of the university relations department, where the employees worked, as well as any documents that would show who initiated the investigation.

UNCG has denied those requests.

Margaret Moffett is a reporter who has covered the case. She says it's hard to say what kind of story she could tell if she had all the documents she requested. Moffett adds they may show nothing the public doesn't already know. But they could also give insight into the beginnings of the case.

“If we could get a sense of the performance review and how the work that the university relations department has been characterized, we could get an idea of what led to the firings,” she says. “Was the freelance work that the employees were doing interfering with their work at UNCG?”

UNCG General Counsel Imogene Cathey says in a written statement provided to WFDD that the departmental review is a personnel file and can't be released because of privacy concerns. However, she says she is reviewing that decision.

Cathey also stood by the decision not to release the name of the university employee who first reported the alleged misuse of university property. She says the university is not releasing the name because the university needs to protect employees' ability to report misdeeds anonymously.

The newspaper says that's not a valid legal reason to deny the request.

In response to an academic scandal in Chapel Hill, UNC system officials on Wednesday launched a public records web site to improve accountability and transparency in that case. The City of Greensboro also has a site that shows public records requests and how long it took to reply to them.  Moffett says those sites could serve as an example of how UNCG could release records in the case of the three former employees.

"I believe using the city of Greensboro as a model would certainly help UNCG, and now it has a university system model as well," she says.

In addition to being fired, the three former UNCG employees  - Chris English, David Wilson and Lyda Carpen - also face felony criminal charges.