An in-depth analysis of redacted Title IX investigative files by Heights Herald Digital News Editor Debra Murray and Editor-in-Chief Lily Burris. The records relate to allegations of sexual misconduct leveled against Western Kentucky University employees.
To end the protracted legal battle with the Heights Herald that stalled in the Warren Circuit Court in 2017, WKU officials agreed to release the records earlier this year following the Kentucky Supreme Court's opinion in a parallel case, University of Kentucky v The Kernel Press, Inc.
Officials failed to live up to the promised disclosure.
Heights Herald attorney, Michael Abate, characterized the records that WKU ultimately released as "seriously over-redacted." Abate indicates that the newspaper may be forced to return to court to resolve the ongoing dispute with university officials over the scope of permissible redactions.
Burris and Murray report:
"After a four-year legal battle and a Supreme Court decision in a similar case, Western Kentucky University released nearly a decade's worth of sexual misconduct records this summer in response to a Herald open records request filed in 2016 and another earlier this year.
"Files from both responses, a total of 39 investigations, were released but heavily redacted.
"In 27 cases, covering allegations of sexual misconduct lodged against faculty or other employees from 2011 through 2020, the university concluded that the incidents did not violate WKU's Title IX policy. Those claims involved both students and WKU employees and ranged from possible homophobic job denial to what the person felt was excessive touching.
"WKU found, in nine cases, enough evidence that resulted in the resignation or retirement of faculty or staff members, effectively ending the investigation before a formal conclusion.
"Michael Abate, the Herald's attorney at Kaplan Johnson Abate & Bird in Louisville, contends that the records WKU released were 'seriously over-redacted.' Abate said the Herald is in the process of disputing those redactions and may ask the courts to resolve the dispute."
