Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Superior Court hassetspecific, narrow, limits on a proposed deposition of former Attorney General Sorrell and his disclosure of private emails. Sorrell had sought to block all inquiry into his private account, which he says does not contain work-related emails in any case. However,the Vermont Attorney General’s Office was successful in its fight against Energy and Environmental Institute’s (EELI) broad request for discovery into private e-mails of Vermont state employees. The Court balanced the public’s right to know and Vermonters’ right to privacy. The ruling denies EELI’s request to depose three Assistant Attorneys General about private email accounts.
SEE RULING BELOW
Vermont High Court Says Private Emails Can Be Public RecordsUSNews.com The Vermont Supreme Court says the state's public records law can extend to the private email accounts of state employees if those messages otherwise meet the state's definition of a public record. |
The Court narrowed the scope of Attorney General Sorrell’s deposition to the topic of documents and correspondence on his private email account that relate to the specific public records request in this case. The Court acknowledged that questions beyond this limited scope of discovery would cause an invasion into individual privacy rights.
The Court’s ruling is in keeping with the Vermont Attorney General’s argument in defense of privacy rights. The Vermont Attorney General’s Office has consistently argued that public servants, like all Vermonters, have privacy rights that must be protected.
