District Agrees To Pay Attorney’s Fees

— The Fayetteville School District agreed this week to pay $2,000 in attorney’s fees Northwest Arkansas Newspapers incurred in a lawsuit against the school district.

Northwest Arkansas Newspapers is the parent company of NWAOnline.com.

A $2,000 check is to be delivered to the newspaper’s attorneys: Quattlebaum, Grooms, Tull & Burrow. In return, the newspaper agreed to dismiss the open records lawsuit.

The lawsuit claimed the School District didn’t comply with the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act when it declined to release email related to a high school teacher who sued the district.

Tim Hollis, a debate and forensics teacher, was barred from school activities and ordered to complete 15 weeks of anger management classes for what Superintendent Vicki Thomas called “continued insubordination, hostility and flagrant failure to follow directives.”

Hollis sued the district, claiming the disciplinary action violated his contract.

The district initially declined to release an email from Hollis cited by Thomas as inappropriate and defamatory. The news organization sought an opinion from the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office on that denial. The attorney general said the district’s rationale for denial likely couldn’t withstand a court challenge.

Circuit Judge Chadd Mason, in response to a request from Hollis’ attorney, in June issued a temporary restraining order blocking the district from releasing email from Hollis. Mason refused to extend the restraining order after a July 3 hearing. The district began releasing email before a hearing on the newspaper’s lawsuit took place.

Thomas’ administrative assistant, Paula Neal, said Wednesday the school district would not comment on the $2,000 settlement. Neal said that decision was based on the fact Hollis’ litigation with the school district continues.

A public termination hearing for Hollis is scheduled for Tuesday. Thomas has recommended the School Board fire Hollis.

The agreement Thomas signed Monday did not admit liability or wrongdoing on the part of the school district.

Rusty Turner, editor and publisher of Northwest Arkansas Newspapers, said Wednesday the company decided to seek attorney’s fees “because we believe strongly in our position.”

“We felt it was the right thing to do to pursue attorney’s fees because we were in the right,” Turner said.

Tres Williams, communications director and lobbyist for the Arkansas Press Association, said defendants in a Freedom of Information Act case are responsible for a plaintiff’s attorney’s fees if a court finds the plaintiff “substantially prevailed” in the case.

State law doesn’t require payment of attorney’s fees if no decision is rendered, Williams added.

He said making a defendant responsible for attorney’s fees removes a potential barrier for Arkansas residents to sue if they believe a public entity violated the state’s open records law.

“The law was written for the average citizen,” Williams said. “The average citizen just doesn’t have the resources in most cases to pursue a civil case.”

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Freedom Of Information

To download a copy of the Arkansas Freedom of Information handbook, go to arkansaspress.org/publications.

Source: Arkansas Press Association

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