95-06
Posted on Mar 16, 1995 in Formal OpinionsOpinion Letter No. 95-06
March 16, 1995
Arbitrator’s Discharge Decision Disclosable
[OIP Op. Ltr. No. 05-03 partially overrules this opinion to the extent that it states or implies that the UIPA’s privacy exception in section 92F-13(1), HRS, either prohibits public disclosure or mandates confidentiality.]
The UIPA requires disclosure of an arbitrator’s decision affirming the discharge of a State library employee for excessive absenteeism, poor work performance, and misuse of a doctor’s report thirty days after the arbitrator’s decision (section 92F-14(b)(4)(B), Hawaii Revised Statutes. Although a library administrator circulated the decision less than thirty days after the arbitrator’s decision affirming the discharge, the OIP determined that the administrator distributed the decision with the good faith belief that the decision was a public record. Accordingly, the OIP found that under section 92F-16, Hawaii Revised Statutes, the administrator would probably be immune from any civil or criminal liability that might arise from the decision’s premature disclosure.