Release of abuse report eyed

An ad hoc Salt Lake County appeals board convened a "unique" hearing Monday on whether to release a report on alleged sexual harassment in the County Clerk's Office.

Deputy district attorney Gavin Anderson called the hearing unique in that most such hearings regard commercial matters.

The Deseret Morning News requested the hearing after previous unsuccessful attempts to obtain the report.

The newspaper in September asked several county agencies to release the report, the result of an internal investigation last year into alleged sexual harassment by then-chief deputy clerk Nick Floros. Those requests were denied, and the newspaper appealed.

The investigation was conducted by two independent attorneys hired by District Attorney David Yocom. According to a letter sent in February by county litigation chief John Soltis to Floros' accuser, Marcia Rice — who has since filed a lawsuit against the county — "the investigators concluded that (the evidence) substantiates your complaint against him and that his treatment of you constitutes egregious violations" of county policy.

Soltis, however, has refused all requests to release the investigation report itself.

"These records (the report and ancillary materials) are not properly classified as protected," Deseret Morning News attorney Jeffrey Hunt argued Monday. "The public has a right to see what it paid for with its tax dollars."

Deputy district attorney Valerie Wilde argued that county policy automatically makes any sexual harassment report private. Hunt argued, however, that state law does not include such reports in a narrow list of exceptions to the general presumption of open records.

As to the issue of protecting the privacy of accusers, Hunt noted that the Floros/Rice matter is already in the public eye through news reports and the pending lawsuit and that Rice in fact wants the report released.

"The reason this hasn't come up before is you've never had a set of factual circumstances like this," he said.

If the board rules to keep the report confidential, news organizations could appeal to the County Council.

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E-mail: aedwards@desnews.com