Penn State University v. SERB
Background
The Patriot-News requested salary information for numerous Pennsylvania State University officials, including football coach Joe Paterno, from the State Employees' Retirement System (SERS) under the State's Right-to-Know Act. When the university was notified of the request, they objected, arguing that the release of salary information would compromise the employees' privacy. A review by SERS determined the information could be released as public records and the university appealed.
Solution
Craig Staudenmaier represented The Patriot-News and reporter, Jan Murphy, before both the SERS Board and the Commonwealth Court. Mr. Staudenmaier argued that Penn State University employees who elect to join SERS are eligible for SERS benefits and are considered "state employees" under the applicable law, which makes their salaries public information. The Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Act grants the public access to the salary information for state employees.
Result
The Commonwealth Court affirmed the earlier decision of the State Employees' Retirement System Board. The majority opinion by Judge McGinley agreed with Mr. Staudenmaier's position and held that the information requested by The Patriot-News was a public record because it was essential to a determination of the contractual obligation of SERS to provide pension benefits to Penn State employees who participated in SERS. The Court further held that none of the exceptions under the Right-to-Know Act applied to the requested information as the knowledge of salary information alone did not represent a threat to the personal security of the individual employees, it did not violate any privacy concerns nor did the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act apply to SERS for the information requested.
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