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Frye v. Vigo County6/4/2002
ty Board of Trustees (the Board). 638 N.E.2d at 438.
The appointment of the committees is interrupted by several steps, through several individuals. . . . he Board delegates the duty to appoint the committees to the university president who, in turn, passes the duty on to an associate vice president for research. The associate vice president then delegates the duty to each of the several campus chancellors, and it is they who ultimately appoint the campus committees and subcommittees. Id. at 437.
Unlike the committees and subcommittees in Robinson, the appointment of the Grievance Panel was not a result of successive delegations of authority several steps removed from an initial delegation by the Commissioners. Rather, the Grievance Panel was appointed pursuant to the grievance procedure contained in the collective bargaining agreement between the Commissioners and the Union due to Roberts' appeal of the Commissioners' decision upholding his termination. Although the collective bargaining agreement requires the Commissioners to "convene" the panel, the Grievance Panel does not derive its authority directly from the Commissioners. As a result of the Union's role in the collective bargaining agreement and Roberts' involvement in the appointment of two of the Grievance Panel members, we cannot say that the Grievance Panel was appointed directly by the Commissioners. Therefore, the Open Door Law does not apply to the Grievance Panel meetings.
4. Remedy
The Citizens argue the Commissioners' decision to terminate Roberts' employment should be declared void due to the violations of the Open Door Law. Whether to declare void any policy, decision, or final action taken by a public agency in violation of the Open Door Law is a matter left to the trial court's discretion. Town of Merrillville, 687 N.E.2d at 199. Among the factors the trial court considers in reaching this determination are: 1) the extent to which the violation affected the substance of the action, denied or impaired access to any meetings that the public had a right to observe, and prevented or impaired public knowledge or understanding; 2) whether voiding of the action is a necessary prerequisite to a substantial reconsideration of the subject matter; and 3) the balancing of the remedial benefits gained by effectuating the public policy of the state declared in the "Purpose" section of the Open Door Law against the prejudice likely to accrue to the public if the action is voided (including the extent to which persons have relied upon the validity of the challenged action). Id.; Ind. Code ยง 5-14-1.5-7(d)(1)-(3).
The only violation of the Open Door Law found by the trial court was the final action of terminating Roberts' employment at the September 9th executive session. See Baker, 753 N.E.2d at 71 (final action must take place at a meeting open to the public). The trial court evaluated this violation in terms of the factors set forth in the statute and concluded that the Commissioners' decision to terminate Roberts' employment should not be declared void. Contrary to the Citizens' apparent belief, the trial court could properly uphold the Commissioners' decision to terminate Roberts' employment despite finding a violation of the Open Door Law.
However, as stated previously, the trial court erred in determining that the annual notice was sufficient public notice of the executive session meetings. Furthermore, the trial court failed to take into account the Commissioners issuing an order during the September 28th closed meeting upholding their decision to terminate Roberts' employment. The trial court erred by not considering these additional violations of the Open Door Law in determi
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