The Kentucky Court of Appeals has sided with the University of Kentucky’s student newspaper in a fight over documents pertaining to a sexual harassment case against a former professor. But the ruling would still allow UK to withhold some documents as long as it offers a clear rationale.
UK and the Kentucky Kernel have been at odds over materials pertaining to complaints made against former associate professor James Harwood – with the school arguing releasing the documents would endanger the privacy of students involved and the paper seeking the documents under the Open Records Act.
The appeals court agreed with the paper, arguing the public has “an interest in the investigative methods used by its public agencies.” The ruling sends the matter back to Fayette Circuit Court with orders for the university to separate documents into two stacks, one with materials that are not exempt and must be released and another that it believes must be withheld, and to “state with exactness” why that’s the case.
UK, meanwhile, says the ruling is consistent with its view that student privacy must be protected. Spokesman Jay Blanton writes that the school continues to have "grave concerns about the chilling effect any breach of a student’s privacy will have on the willingness of victim-survivors to come forward.”
