The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania issued an opinion vacating Pennsylvania’s Office of Open Records’ denial of a request for documents under the state’s Right-to-Know Law. Plaintiff sought records related to Reinsurance Offset Guidelines from the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance and Reliance Insurance Company, which has been in liquidation since 2001. The OOR denied the request on the basis that the documents were “internal, pre-decisional deliberations.” The court vacated the denial because the OOR did not have jurisdiction to hear this matter as Reliance’s Statutory Liquidator. The court further explained that the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, when aiding the Statutory Liquidator, and Reliance are acting pursuant to a judicial order and under the supervision of the Commonwealth Court. Because the court had appointed the state Insurance Commissioner as Statutory Liquidator, it retained general supervision over the Statutory Liquidator and the insolvent estate. Thus, all complaints regarding how the insolvency is being administered must be directed to the court, and any records can only be obtained through court order. Greenberger v. Pennsylvania Ins. Dept., No. 931 C.D. 2011 (Pa. Commw. Ct. Mar. 7, 2012).
This post written by John Black.
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