Louisiana court: highway contractor info can't be FOIA'd [priv]

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

ANGELO IAFRATE CONSTRUCTION, LLC. AND EDWARD L. LEONARD VERSUS STATE OF 
LOUISIANA THROUGH THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND DEVELOPMENT

No. 2003 CA 0892

COURT OF APPEAL OF LOUISIANA, FIRST CIRCUIT

2003 0892 (La.App. 1 Cir, 05/14/04)

May 14, 2004, Judgment Rendered

...

Iafrate is a general contractor for a number of federally funded state 
highway construction projects owned by DOTD. As such, Iafrate must 
submit periodic certified payroll information to DOTD to ensure 
compliance with the Davis-Bacon Act, n1 a federal law designed to 
protect workers by guaranteeing them minimum wages based on local 
prevailing wage rates. The payroll information must contain the Iafrate 
employees' names, addresses, social security numbers, job 
classifications, hourly wage rates, number of hours worked daily and 
weekly, deductions, and actual wages. The union made a public records 
request for Iafrate's payroll records on one of the projects, and DOTD 
agreed to provide all the information requested except the names, 
addresses, and social security information of the Iafrate employees. n2 
The union reiterated its request, and Iafrate feared DOTD might release 
the information. This suit was filed against DOTD by Iafrate and one of 
its employees, Edward L. Leonard,  [*3]  seeking to enjoin DOTD from 
providing Iafrate's complete payroll information to the union; the union 
intervened to assert its right to acquire that information. Although 
Iafrate and Leonard are the nominal plaintiffs and DOTD the nominal 
defendant, their positions in this' litigation are actually aligned in 
opposition to the union's request.

...

The purpose of the Act is to keep the public reasonably informed about 
how public bodies conduct their business and how the affairs of 
government are handled. The public body involved in this case is DOTD; 
its business is the building and maintenance of public highways, 
bridges, and other transportation [*27]  infrastructures and facilities. 
The public's interest in DOTD's records is to ensure that those 
activities are effectively accomplished for the public's convenience and 
safety at the most reasonable price and in compliance with applicable 
laws. We fail to discern in this regard any public interest that would 
be served by the disclosure of the complete certified payroll 
information concerning the employees of a private contractor working on 
DOTD projects. Accordingly, we conclude the employees' right to privacy 
concerning their personal particularized wage information outweighs any 
public interest there might be in disclosure of that information linked 
to the employees' names and addresses. n11

...
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