WFPL’s Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting has filed a lawsuit against the University of Louisville Foundation, the latest step in an ongoing public records fight.
The Foundation, led by former U of L President James Ramsey, manages the university’s some $700 million endowment.
The suit, filed Thursday in Jefferson Circuit Court, seeks an injunction to force the Foundation. to release ethics and disclosure forms, along with payroll and financial documents first requested by KyCIR in February.
The Foundation has resisted releasing the documents, saying the records requests were burdensome because they were “overly broad and blanket in nature.”
Read KyCIR's explanation:
https://kycir.org/2016/09/15/why-we-are-suing-the-university-of-louisville-foundation/
The Kentucky Attorney General has ruled four times since August -- including for the documents over which KyCIR is suing -- that the U of L Foundation violated the Kentucky Open Records Act by refusing to release documents to the investigative center.
Some university donors have recently threatened to withhold future funding unless the Foundation undergoes a forensic audit.
U of L trustees are also threatening a suit unless the foundation produces financial and other records and takes other steps to change what they call a “culture of secrecy.”
The foundation’s board is scheduled to meet again Friday.
To read more about the lawsuit, visit KyCIR.org.
Read the lawsuit here.
Disclosure: In 2015, the University of Louisville, which for years has donated to Louisville Public Media, earmarked $3,000 to KyCIR as part of a larger LPM donation. University board members Stephen Campbell and Sandra Frazier have donated to KyCIR.
