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Ebony Lake Healthcare Center v. Texas Department of Human Services

Appellant showed a probable right to prevail on its claim of privilege given that the documents at issue detail accidents involving residents at appellant's facility including witnesses' observations of the incidents, and subsequent action taken by the facility, and the reports include diagnoses of the residents following their transport to the hospital.

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Appellee Texas Department of Human Services (the Department) received a request for release of certain documents regarding appellant Ebony Lake Healthcare Center (Ebony Lake), pursuant to the Public Information Act. See Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. �� 552.001-552.353 (West 1994 & Supp. 2001). Ebony Lake informed the Department that it considered some of the documents privileged. Accordingly, the Department requested an attorney general’s opinion. The Attorney General found that the documents in question were not privileged and ordered the documents released. Ebony Lake subsequently sought a declaratory judgment, asking the trial court to declare the documents subject to a confidentiality privilege; in conjunction with the suit, Ebony Lake also sought a temporary injunction. The trial court denied the temporary injunction, and Ebony Lake brings this interlocutory appeal from that ruling. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. � 51.014 (West Supp. 2001). We will reverse the trial court’s order denying the temporary injunction and remand the cause to the trial court.

BACKGROUND

On February 23, 2000, an attorney representing family members of an Ebony Lake resident sent an open records request to the Department, seeking among other items all incident reports sent by Ebony Lake to the Department. On April 6, Ebony Lake informed the Department that it considered some of the documents privileged from disclosure. Based on this information, the Department requested an attorney general’s opinion concerning the confidentiality of the documents. The Attorney General determined that the documents were not subject to the asserted privileges and should be disclosed.

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