v.
Freedom Foundation, App
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE STATE OF WASHINGTON
WASHINGTON FEDERATION OF STATE No. 83342-1-I EMPLOYEES, COUNCIL, 28; et al.† DIVISION ONE Respondents, PUBLISHED OPINION v. STATE OF WASHINGTON; et. al.
Respondents, FREEDOM FOUNDATION, Appellant.
ANDRUS, A.C.J. — The Freedom Foundation (Foundation) appeals the entry of a permanent injunction precluding the State of Washington from disclosing the names, birthdates, work addresses, and work emails of public employees who have certified to their union or to the State that they or a family member are survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or harassment. The Foundation contends no public employee has a constitutional right to prevent the State from disclosing this information under the Public Records Act (PRA).1
† See Appendix for a list of all respondents. 1 Ch. 42.56 RCW.
Citations and pin cites are based on the Westlaw online version of the cited material. No. 83342-1-I/2
We reject the Foundation’s argument and conclude that public employees who are survivors, or whose immediate family members are survivors, of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or harassment have a substantive due process right to personal security and bodily integrity. This constitutional right precludes the State from disclosing their name and physical work location or work contact information when doing so presents a substantial likelihood that the employee’s physical safety or the safety of that employee’s family member would be in danger.
Under RCW 42.56.540, however, injunctive relief is only appropriate when an individual can establish substantial and irreparable harm from the disclosure of protected information. The record before the trial court is insufficient to establish an individualized risk of bodily harm to the over 1,000 employees on whose behalf the Unions sought injunctive relief. Accordingly, we reverse the order granting summary judgment to the Unions, reverse the permanent injunction, and remand to the trial court to determine the most appropriate method of conducting this individualized risk assessment as required by RCW 42.56.540.
FACTS
The Foundation is a nonprofit organization that seeks to promote “individual liberty, free enterprise, and limited, accountable government.” One focus of the Foundation’s mission is to inform public employees of their right to opt out of union membership. To identify, and directly contact, members of its public employee audience, the Foundation sent several PRA requests to hundreds of public entities seeking, among other things, employees’ full name, full birthdate, job title, work email address, employer, and duty station address.
[*2]No. 83342-1-I/3
On December 18, 2019, several labor organizations2 (the Unions) filed a complaint against multiple state agencies, universities, and community colleges, asserting that the release of the personal information of survivors of domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault would violate their constitutional rights, making the requested information exempt under RCW 42.56.070(1). That same day, the Unions obtained an ex parte temporary restraining order, prohibiting the named agencies from releasing information to the Foundation until a hearing could be held on the Unions’ motion for preliminary injunctive relief.
On December 23, 2019, the Unions filed an amended complaint, naming additional unions as plaintiffs and filed a motion for a preliminary injunction. The Foundation opposed the injunction. After a hearing on December 27, 2019, the trial court preliminarily enjoined the named public entities from "releasing or disclosing the names, birthdates, duty station/location and work email” of the certain public employees deemed to be “protected employees.” The trial court defined the “protected employees” as any public employee who provided DRS or their union specified documentation evidencing their status or the status of a family member as a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking.[3]
2 The original group consisted of four unions, but was later amended to include more than 30 labor organizations. [3] The court held that the documentation had to consist of (a) a police report indicating the employee or their family member was the victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking; (b) a court order protecting the employee or their family member from the perpetrator of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking; (c) documentation from a domestic violence advocate, attorney, clergy member, or medical professional, attesting to the fact that the public employee or a member of their family sought assistance to address domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking; (d) a written statement from the public employee attesting to their status or that of a family member as a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking; or (e) a court-issued temporary protection order or anti-harassment order.
[*3]No. 83342-1-I/4
The court found that disclosure would violate these protected employees’ rights of privacy under the constitutions of Washington State and the United States “because their personal bodily security and lives would be jeopardized by the release of their names linked with their birthdates, work title and work location” and therefore would violate RCW 42.56.070(1). To give the public entities time to identify their “protected employees,” the trial court enjoined the disclosure of any names, birthdates, duty station or work locations, and work emails of any public employee represented by the Unions until March 31, 2020. The court required the Unions and the public entities to file status reports on their efforts to identify the protected employees by February 25, 2020, and it set a status hearing for March 6, 2020.
Shortly after the court entered the preliminary injunction, the Unions learned that the Foundation had sent PRA requests to additional local and state agencies, seeking the same personal information covered by the preliminary injunction. Because the recipients of these requests were not named in the lawsuit, the Unions filed a second amended complaint to add them as named defendants and moved to extend the preliminary injunction to them. The trial court granted the Unions’ motion.
On January 15, 2020, the Foundation sent PRA requests to another 300 state and local agencies who were not yet parties to the litigation, seeking the same information. When the Unions learned of these PRA requests, they amended their complaint a third, fourth, and fifth time on January 28, February 02, and February 28, 2020, respectively, to add these agencies as named defendants No. 83342-1-I/5
[*4]and again asked the court to extend the preliminary injunction to cover them. The trial court extended the preliminary injunction to these newly named parties.
On March 23, 2020, the trial court extended the duration of the preliminary injunction until May 15, 2020, and directed the Unions and public agencies to file status reports with the court regarding their compliance with the injunction by April 30, 2020. The trial court also issued a protective order, deeming all documents and information shared by potentially protected persons confidential and exempt from disclosure. It established a process to protect that confidentiality while determining which of the employees are protected under the preliminary injunction.
Throughout the litigation, the Unions and agencies filed status reports pursuant to the court’s orders, ultimately indicating that they had identified approximately 1,000 protected employees whose information was exempt from disclosure under the preliminary injunction.
During the pendency of the lawsuit, on March 1, 2020, Substitute House Bill (SHB) 1071 became effective. SUBSTITUTE H.B. 1071, 66th Leg., Reg. Sess. (Wash. 2019). One provision of SHB 1071 amended RCW 42.56.590, which requires that agencies notify Washington residents when their personal information is accessed in a data security breach. RCW 42.56.590(1). Relevant to this case, SHB 1071 amended the definition of “personal information” to include an individual’s name in combination with their full date of birth. SUBSTITUTE H.B. 1071, at 13, 66th Leg., Reg. Sess. (Wash. 2019); RCW 42.56.590(10)(a)(i)(D).
In response to this change in the law, the Unions moved for leave to file a sixth amended complaint, seeking to enjoin the release of full birthdates for all No. 83342-1-I/6
[*5]public employees—not just those of domestic violence survivors. On May 8, 2020, the trial court issued a supplemental order enjoining the release of the birthdates linked to public employee names, concluding that the information was exempt from disclosure under RCW 42.56.230(3) when that provision was read in harmony with RCW 42.56.590(10).
The Unions then moved for summary judgment and for entry of a permanent injunction, which the trial court granted on July 17, 2020.4 The trial court concluded that the disclosure of “personal information,”—which it defined to include names, birthdates, bargaining unit indicator, duty station/location and work email—of public employees who are, or whose family members are survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or harassment would violate those employees’ constitutional rights and RCW 42.56.070(1). The court permanently enjoined disclosure of this information for protected employees.
The trial court further found that the release of the full birthdates in conjunction with public employees’ names would violate RCW 42.56.230(3) when read in harmony with RCW 42.56.590(10). The court accordingly enjoined release of this information.
The Foundation appeals the preliminary injunction, the orders extending it, the order granting summary judgment, and the resulting permanent injunction.
4 The order was later corrected to limit the relief to the previously identified protected employees.
[*6]No. 83342-1-I/7
ANALYSIS
1. Public Records Act – Constitutional Exemptions
Initially passed as a citizen’s initiative in 1972, the PRA serves to ensure governmental transparency in Washington State. Freedom Found. v. Gregoire, 178 Wn.2d 686, 694-95, 310 P.3d 1252 (2013). The PRA embodies “a strongly worded mandate for broad disclosure of public records.” Id. (quoting Hearst Corp. v. Hoppe, 90 Wn.2d 123, 127, 580 P.2d 246 (1978)). To effectuate this mandate, the PRA directs each public agency to allow public access to “all public records, unless the record falls within the specific exemptions of subsection (8) of this section, this chapter, or other statute which exempts or prohibits disclosure of specific information or records.” RCW 42.56.070(1).
There are three sources of PRA exemptions: (1) the PRA itself; (2) “other statutes” that create an exemption;5 and (3) the Washington constitution. White v. Clark County, 188 Wn. App. 622, 630-31, 354 P.3d 38 (2015). “[T]he PRA must give way to constitutional mandates.” Gregoire, 178 Wn.2d at 695 (constitutional separation of powers doctrine results in executive communications privilege to the PRA). Under the PRA, the public agency bears the burden of showing that records fall within an exemption. Neigh. All. v. Spokane County, 172 Wn.2d 702, 715, 261 P.3d 119 (2011). To preserve the PRA’s broad mandate for disclosure, we construe the PRA’s provisions liberally and its exemptions narrowly. Gregoire, 178 Wn.2d at 695.
5The “other statutes” exemption incorporates into the PRA other statutes which exempt or prohibit disclosure of specific information or records. Progressive Animal Welfare Soc’y v. Univ. of Wash., 125 Wn.2d 243, 261-62, 884 P.2d 592 (1994).
[*7]No. 83342-1-I/8
2. Constitutional Right to Personal Security and Bodily Integrity
The Foundation argues that the information it seeks is work-related information about public employees, none of which is constitutionally protected or otherwise exempt under the PRA. The Unions contend that protected employees’ personal information is exempt from disclosure under article I, section 3 of the Washington Constitution, and the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
We conclude that public employees who are survivors, or whose immediate family members are survivors, of domestic violence,6 sexual assault,7 stalking,8 or harassment,9 have a substantive due process right to personal security and bodily integrity. This constitutional right precludes the State from disclosing their name, physical work location, and work contact information when doing so presents a substantial likelihood that the employee’s physical safety or the safety of that employee’s family member would be in danger.
Both the Washington and the United States Constitutions mandate that no person may be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. U.S.
6 “Domestic violence,” as defined in the Domestic Violence Act, RCW 10.99.020, includes 23 separate crimes, most of them violent, against one family or household member against another, or one intimate partner against another. It is recognized by the legislature as “a serious crime against society.” RCW 10.99.010. Under the Domestic Violence Protection Act, ch. 26.50 RCW, “domestic violence” includes physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or the infliction of fear of imminent physical harm, bodily injury or assault, sexual assault, or stalking against intimate partners, family members or household members. RCW 26.50.010. Our Supreme Court in Danny v. Laidlaw Transit Services, Inc., 165 Wn.2d 200, 221, 193 P.3d 128 (2008), recognized a clear mandate of public policy to protect victims of domestic violence. 7 “Sexual assault,” identified by our legislature as “the most heinous crime against another person short of murder,” RCW 7.90.005, includes all nonconsensual sexual conduct. RCW 7.90.010(6). 8 “Stalking” is defined as the intentional and repeated harassment or following of another person with the intent to frighten, intimidate, or harass the person. RCW 9A.46.110. 9 “Harassment” is defined as knowingly threatening to cause bodily injury or physical damage to the property of another. RCW 9A.46.020.
[*8]No. 83342-1-I/9
CONST. amends. XIV, § 1; W ASH. CONST., art. I, § 3. These provisions protect a citizen’s liberty interest in their personal security and bodily integrity. Kennedy v. City of Ridgefield, 439 F.3d 1055, 1061 (9th Cir. 2006); see also Ingraham v. Wright, 430 U.S. 651, 673-74, 97 S.Ct. 1401, 51 L. Ed. 2d 711 (1977). “Individuals have a clearly established right under the substantive component of the Due Process Clause to personal security and to bodily integrity, and this right is fundamental where the magnitude of the liberty deprivation that the abuse inflicts upon the victim strips the very essence of personhood.” Kallstrom v. City of Columbus, 136 F.3d 1055, 1063-64 (6th Cir. 1998) (internal quotations omitted) (quoting Doe v. Clairborne, 103 F.3d 495, 506-07 (6th Cir. 1996)).
The state’s failure to protect an individual against private acts of violence does not violate the guarantee of due process, but federal courts have recognized the “state-created danger” substantive due process doctrine. DeShaney v. Winnebago County Dep’t of Soc. Serv., 489 U.S. 189, 197, 201, 109 S. Ct. 998, 103 L. Ed. 2d 249 (1989); Irish v. Fowler, 979 F.3d 65, 73 (1st Cir. 2020), cert. denied, 142 S. Ct. 74, 211 L. Ed. 2d 13 (2021). Under this doctrine, government actors may be held liable for failing to protect individuals from dangers they create or enhance. Irish, 979 F.3d at 74. Disclosing information about public employees that places them or their family members in danger by substantially increasing the likelihood that a private actor would harm the employees or their family members creates a constitutionally cognizable danger giving rise to a violation of due process. Kallstrom, 136 F.3d at 1067. Where state law mandates the disclosure of information about a public employee and that disclosure risks an infringement No. 83342-1-I/10
[*9]of the fundamental right to personal security and bodily integrity, we will apply strict scrutiny to that law and uphold it only where it furthers a compelling state interest and is narrowly drawn to further that state interest. Id. at 1064.
While the Foundation frames the right the Unions seek to protect as a right to privacy arising under article I, section 7 of the Washington Constitution, the Unions actually seek to protect the lives or physical safety of their members, not their right to keep information private. The Unions focus on protecting survivors from actual bodily harm, not mere embarrassment or discomfort at having sensitive information accessible to the public. This potential harm directly implicates the right to personal security and bodily integrity. We conclude that under the substantive due process clause, article I, section 3, of the Washington Constitution, survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking or harassment have a fundamental constitutional interest in preventing the release of information about their whereabouts when their perpetrators could use the information to locate them and inflict physical harm on them or their family members.
The Foundation argues that the Unions fail to demonstrate a justiciable controversy because the contention that the disclosure of names, work locations and work emails could harm survivors is “entirely theoretical, hypothetical, and speculative.” The Uniform Declaratory Judgment Act, chapter 7.24 RCW, requires a justiciable controversy, meaning one (1) presenting an actual, present, and existing dispute, or the mature seeds of one, as distinguished from a possible, dormant, hypothetical, speculative, or moot disagreement, (2) between parties having genuine and opposing interests, (3) involving interests that are direct and
- 10 - No. 83342-1-I/11 substantial, rather than potential, theoretical, abstract, or academic, and (4) of which a judicial determination will be final and conclusive. To-Ro Trade Shows v. Collins, 144 Wn.2d 403, 411, 27 P.3d 1149 (2001) (quoting Diversified Indus. Dev. Corp. v. Ripley, 82 Wn.2d 811, 814-15, 514 P.2d 137 (1973)). The Unions, however, have met this test. There is an actual legal dispute— whether public employees who have experienced domestic violence or sexual assault have a constitutional right to have their employer withhold information about their work location. Their interests are clearly contrary to the statutory rights the Foundation asserts under the PRA. And the protected public employees’ interests are direct and substantial. Domestic violence expert Grace Huang testified that “it is critical for the safety and well-being of many state workers who have experienced domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking or stalking, that their personal identifying information, including dates of birth, contact information, and work address or other location information be kept private and confidential.” She explained that these employees’ “need to maintain the privacy and confidentiality of their personal identifying information . . . is strongly linked to their safety, and in some instances, their very lives.” This evidence demonstrates that threat of harm to protected employees is far more than hypothetical or speculative. Finally, a judicial decision as to the scope of the protected employees’ right to an exemption under the PRA would be final and conclusive. The constitutional issue is thus justiciable. Because the state law at issue here—a law mandating disclosure of public employee names, work addresses and work emails—may infringe a fundamental - 11 - No. 83342-1-I/12 right to personal security and bodily integrity, we apply strict scrutiny to evaluate whether the State has a compelling interest in mandatory disclosure of this information under the PRA and whether the PRA is narrowly drawn to protect this government interest. The government interest in disclosure of information relating to public workers “serves legitimate public interests, furthering the policy of the PRA to promote transparency and public oversight.” Wash. Pub. Emps. Ass’n v. Wash. State Ctr. For Childhood Deafness & Hearing Loss, 194 Wn.2d 484, 508, 450 P.3d 601 (2019) (WPEA). This public oversight allows citizens to remain “informed so that they may maintain control over the instruments that they have created” and protect the sovereignty of the people. RCW 42.56.030. The Supreme Court has previously recognized that “[p]ublic employees are paid with public tax dollars and, by definition, are servants of and accountable to the public. The people have a right to know who their public employees are and when those employees are not performing their duties.” Predisik v. Spokane Sch. Dist. No. 81, 182 Wn.2d 896, 908, 346 P.3d 737 (2015) (identities of school employees on paid administrative leave pending investigations into misconduct must be disclosed under PRA). The government has a compelling interest in disclosing information regarding the identity, work locations and work email addresses of its public employees. Nevertheless, when the disclosure of personally identifying information about a public employee is capable of being used to locate domestic violence or sexual assault survivors and to cause them harm, a PRA that mandates the disclosure of public employee names, birthdates, work addresses, and work emails - 12 - No. 83342-1-I/13 is not narrowly tailored enough to serve a compelling interest in transparency. See Kallstrom, 136 F.3d at 1065 (holding that the automatic disclosure of the officers’ personal information was not drawn narrowly enough to serve the State’s interest in ensuring accountable governance). There may be circumstances under which the release of information relating to a domestic violence survivor’s identity and work location might further the public’s oversight of its public agencies, such as when that employee has been placed on leave pending an investigation into alleged misconduct or when that employee has been found to have committed work-related malfeasance. But the automatic disclosure of the information about every employee, without an assessment of the risks of physical violence such disclosure may create, is not drawn narrowly enough to ensure accountable government. The names of public employees and their work stations say little about the function of our government. Work email addresses would not reveal government corruption or illuminate performance and discipline of government employees. Thus, automatic disclosure of personally identifying information, including a work address and work email, of victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or harassment is not narrowly tailored to serve the compelling government interest in transparency. We conclude that survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking or harassment have a fundamental constitutional interest in preventing the release of information about their employment location, including their name, physical work address, and work email, when their perpetrators could use the information to locate them and inflict physical harm on them or their family members. If this test - 13 - No. 83342-1-I/14 is met, the information would be exempt from disclosure under article I, section 3 of the Washington constitution.10