Times Mirror Files Lawsuit Seeking Salary Disclosure

The Times Mirror Co., which publishes the Los Angeles Times, filed a lawsuit this week seeking to force the city of Torrance to comply with the California Public Records Act and turn over documents detailing the total compensation paid to city management employees last year.

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, calls the city’s refusal to provide access to the documents “arbitrary and an abuse of office” because they are not exempted under the state Public Records Act.

The suit follows months of attempts by The Times to get city officials to release public documents that detail the amount of money paid to top managers, including the amount of incentive pay given to 66 department heads and other employees who are allowed to cash out 24 to 36 days of administrative leave annually in addition to vacation time.

After repeated attempts to get the city to release the documents, Torrance officials instead provided The Times with a resolution outlining the guidelines for compensation of Torrance management employees, but did not include any specific salary information.

City attorneys wrote a letter to The Times on June 23 saying that they would not provide any additional documents or information because “no public purpose is served by linking individual incentive payments with names.”

However, the suit filed by Times Mirror attorneys disagrees.

“Petitioner and the general public have been and continue to be harmed by respondent’s refusal to comply with the Public Records Act and to permit inspection of the requested documents,” according to the lawsuit.