In the Matter of John Short, Respondent-Appellant v. Board of Managers of the Nassau County Medical Center… (New York 1982)

Summary

The New York Court of Appeals held that the statutory authority to delete identifying details applies only to records exempted on privacy grounds and not to records exempted by specific statutory provisions, thus denying disclosure of the 29 medical records even after deletion. It remanded the memorandum issue for in‑camera review to determine if any statistical or factual tabulations are present. Chief Judge Cooke dissented, arguing that the court should be able to order disclosure of the records with identifying information removed.

Holding

Whether the deletion‑of‑identifying‑details provision of the Freedom of Information Law applies to records that are exempted from disclosure by specific state or federal statutes under section 87(a) of the Public Officers Law.. No; the deletion authority is limited to the privacy‑invasion category and does not remove the exemption of records specifically exempted by statute.

Whether the July 19, 1972 memorandum, subject to the inter‑agency materials exception, contains statistical or factual tabulations that must be disclosed.. The case is remanded to the Supreme Court for an in‑camera inspection of the memorandum and its attachments to determine if any statistical or factual tabulations or data exist; if so, those portions should be ordered disclosed.