A Cal Poly San Luis Obispo journalism student has settled a public records lawsuit against the university. Elizabeth Wilson sued Cal Poly in April, alleging that the university withheld records required under California law.
Under the settlement, Cal Poly agreed to pay $26,000 in attorney fees for Wilson and released all requested, non-exempt records.
Wilson’s attorney, Annie Cappetta from the First Amendment Coalition, said Cal Poly also agreed to train staff on their Public Records Act responsibilities.
“I'm very pleased that we reached an agreement and, especially, that Cal Poly agreed to take steps to improve their records process and relationship with student reporters,” Cappetta said. “I'm very happy that my client got all the records she requested.”
The university will also hold mandatory meetings regularly with student news staff to go over the status of open records requests. Cappetta said she hopes this settlement will urge more universities to take student public records requests seriously.
“You can't just ignore their requests, and you can't wait them out until graduation,” Cappetta said. “You have to come to the table because they have just as much of a right to this information and to report this information to the community as any other member of the public.”
A Cal Poly spokesperson confirmed the settlement but declined further comment.
