Trustees for Walters Art Museum not subject to MPIA, MD Supreme Court rules

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The board of trustees for the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore is not subject to the Maryland Public Information Act, the state’s highest court held in a 6-1 ruling Tuesday.

The decision comes less than a week after the museum’s workers unanimously voted to ratify their first union contract and following multiple MPIA requests filed by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees International to obtain documents from the Walters Art Museum related to AFSCME’s unionization efforts at the gallery.

Justice Jonathan Biran authored the majority opinion, which distinguished the board of trustees’ act of providing a public benefit from the board’s work in honoring a private bequest made by Henry Walters nearly a century ago.

“While the Board serves the public, it does so not as agents of state or local government, but as fiduciaries executing the intent of a private donor,” Biran wrote. “The Board’s work, therefore, serves a charitable purpose initially of Mr. Walters’ design, not a public policy goal.”

Under the MPIA, members of the public can access and obtain copies of disclosable government records, with certain exceptions.

The Maryland Supreme Court examined a number of factors relating to the board of trustees’ purpose, structure, funding and degree of governmental control, with the majority weighing the factors in favor of a finding that the board is not a governmental instrumentality under the MPIA.

In a statement, AFSCME Maryland Council 3, which sued the museum’s trustees and the museum’s leaders, said it believes the high court erred in its ruling.

“The Walters’ collection belongs to the people of Baltimore and ought to be overseen by the City,” the organization said. “It is unfortunate that the citizens of Baltimore do not have the ability to scrutinize the Walters using the MPIA, but it is of great benefit to the employees that they have a voice within the Walters, and the ruling does not change that.”

Kate Burgin, director and CEO of the Walters Art Museum, said in a statement that the gallery is “gratified that the majority of the Maryland Supreme Court has ruled in support of the museum’s position.”

A number of unions filed suit in the Baltimore City Circuit Court following the museum’s former executive director denying their MPIA requests for information related to their efforts to unionize the museum’s employees, including tax documents, financial statements and contracts. The circuit court ruled in favor of the unions, concluding the board was a governmental instrumentality subject to the MPIA. The Maryland Appellate Court affirmed the circuit court’s ruling, emphasizing the board’s relationship with the city of Baltimore “predominate[s]” over its attributes pointing to its private character.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Brynja Booth wrote the board of trustees is an instrumentality of the city of Baltimore under the MPIA and therefore subject to the Act’s provisions, where Walters in his will gifted the gallery and his dwelling to the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore “for the public benefit.”

“Government transparency and the public’s access to public records are essential to the success of democratic society,” Booth wrote. “When the government limits the public’s access to information and records, it can foster distrust and erode confidence in our institutions.”

In an amicus brief by Maryland Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts in support of the museum’s workers and the unions, the nonprofit contended that artists and creatives must be able to access information through the MPIA regarding the Walters Art Museum.

“Precisely because The Walters is a steward of public artifacts, it must provide yearly reports on its activities to Baltimore City’s Mayor and City Council,” Maryland Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts wrote through counsel. “While The Walters’s reports to our elected leaders are meant to assist with holding The Walters accountable for its stewardship duties, it is through MPIA requests that citizens, journalists, and creatives are able to proactively assist with accountability. … Without these tools, the public’s literal artworks themselves could be in jeopardy.”