The Kentucky Lantern is suing the University of Kentucky after it refused to release records related to a $375,000 settlement with a faculty leader who had challenged the administration’s decision to disband the University Senate.
The Lantern filed the lawsuit on Nov. 26 after Attorney General Russell Coleman’s office rejected the nonprofit news outlet’s appeal of UK’s decision. Under Kentucky’s open records law, parties can appeal the attorney general’s decisions in a local circuit court.
Earlier this year, the Lantern sought records of email exchanges that preceded the university signing a $375,000 separation agreement with DeShana Collett, who had been a tenured professor in physician assistant studies. A provision in the agreement between UK and Collett required her to withdraw her request for emails among UK administrators that mentioned her. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) had earlier ruled that under state law Collett was entitled to the records…