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 ... _______________________________________________ Politech mailing list Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/)
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