Meghan E. Irons v. City of Boston - Property Management Department (SPR 20180411)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords April 6, 2018 SPR18/411 Shawn A. Williams, Esq. Director of Public Records City of Boston - Property Management Department One City Hall Plaza, Room 811 Boston, MA 02201 Dear Attorney Williams: I have received the petition of Meghan Irons appealing the response of the City of Boston Property Management Department (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Ms. Irons requested a copy of "the city's response to a complaint filed by [an identified complainant] against [an identified individual] with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination [MCAD] last year." The City provided a response on March 21, 2018, denying access to responsive records pursuant to Exemptions (a) and (c) of the Public Records Law. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(a), (c). Unsatisfied with the City's response, Ms. Irons petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR18/411, was opened as a result. The City's March 2ist response In its March 21, 2018 response, the City indicates that it filed a document in response to the MCAD complaint, called a "position statement." The City clarifies that MCAD did not close the case and contends that the requested record may be withheld from disclosure pursuant to Exemptions (a) and (c) of the Public Records Law. The City further asserts that "[t]he records responsive to your request are the subject of active litigation in which the City is a party. See Superior Court Docket: 18-0799-H, filed March 13, 2018." Whereas the public record in question is the subject of a dispute in active litigation, I decline to opine on this matter. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2)(b) (the Supervisor may deny an appeal if, in the opinion of the Supervisor, "the public records in question are the subjects of disputes in active litigation, administrative hearings or mediation"). It should be noted that a change in the status of this action could impact the applicability of 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2)(b). Accordingly, this appeal is now closed. One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre• pre@sec.state.ma.us

Shawn A. Williams, Esq. SPR18/411 Page2 April 6, 2018 Sincerely, ~~ Supervisor of Records cc: Meghan Irons