Settlement reached in student reporter’s First Amendment case against Ca

A settlement has been reached in a months-long lawsuit between Cal Poly Mustang News student reporter Elizabeth Wilson, represented by the First Amendment Coalition (FAC), and the Board of Trustees of the California State University (CSU) system.

The lawsuit – which was originally filed in April— alleged that the university failed to disclose public records that Wilson had requested more than 18 months earlier.

“This agreement will remind Cal Poly employees of their responsibilities to society and ensure they come to the table to improve the process of engaging with students,” Annie Cappetta, staff attorney at the First Amendment Coalition, said in a press release.

The student journalist reportedly filed three public records requests in 2022 seeking stories about campus sexual assault, labor violations alleged against Cal Poly student workers and the top administrator’s failure to respond to sexual harassment and other complaints.

According to FAC, Wilson never received the requested documents, leading to the lawsuit being filed in April.

FAC officials say Cal Poly released 236 emails in response to Wilson in July, and 21 emails were withheld due to disclosure exemptions.

Friday’s agreement reportedly calls for the university to host a training session within three months for all employees processing applications under the Public Records Act on Cal Poly’s campus that will inform them of their obligations under the act. According to FAC, the training will be recorded and posted publicly.

The settlement also allegedly allows Mustang News reporters to meet with Cal Poly registrars in person each academic semester for the next three years to discuss the status of their open applications, the criteria and processes staff use to queue applications for consideration, and suggestions for overcoming any practical grounds for delaying or denying access to records.

“I am very pleased that Cal Poly has agreed to the settlement, but a lawsuit should not be required to assert my – and the Cal Poly community’s – right to this information,” Wilson said in a news release. “Access to records is not only important for journalists like me, it is important for anyone who wants to hold institutions accountable.”

The settlement and other legal documents in this case can be found on the website FAC website.