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Public benefit corporations are subject to the Open Meetings Law and the Freedom of Information Law as long as they remain public benefit corporations

Public benefit corporations are subject to the Open Meetings Law and the Freedom of Information Law as long as they remain public benefit corporations
Matter of Reese v Daines, 2009 NY Slip Op 03569, decided on May 1, 2009, Appellate Division, Fourth Department

Ellen Reese and a number of others filed a petition in Supreme Court seeking to compel Western New York Health Systems, Inc. [WNYHS] and several of the other named organizations to comply with the provisions of the Open Meetings Law [Public Officers Law Article 7] and the Freedom of Information Law [Public Officers Law Article 6].

Supreme Court ruled that WNYHS is a public body within the meaning of the Open Meetings Law [OML] and thereby subject to its provisions. Similarly, it was also deemed subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Law [FOIL].

The Appellate Division agreed, explaining that "[A] realistic appraisal of [the] functional relationship [of respondents] to affected parties and constituencies establishes [that] Western New York Health System, Inc* (WNYHS) performs a quintessentially governmental function, as did the Board of Trustees of the ?Unified Governance Structure before it.?

WNYHS, said the court, has final decision-making authority to carry out that function, including control of the public funding received by Erie County Medical Center Corporation [ECMCC].

Further, ruled the Appellate Division, WNYHS?s status as a public entity subject to the provisions of the Open Meetings Law is to continue ?until the merger of ECMCC and the privately owned "Kaleida Hospitals" is completed and ECMCC is no longer a public benefit corporation.?

By the same token, the court noted, WNYHS and ECMCC are also public agencies for the purposes of FOIL.

The Appellate Division, however, vacated that portion of the Supreme Court?s order that awarded Reese attorneys' fees and costs, finding that the several respondent entities did not engage in "a persistent pattern of deliberate violations of the Open Meetings Law? and they had a "reasonable basis for denying access" to the documents requested pursuant to FOIL.

* WNYHS is responsible for overseeing the merger and consolidation of services of the ECMCC, a public benefit corporation, with a privately owned entity, Kaleida Hospitals.

The decision is posted on the Internet at:
http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2009/2009_03569.htm

Full post as published by New York Public Personnel Law on May 12, 2009 (boomark / email).