SAN JOSE, Calif. — The city of San Jose was ordered by a judge on Friday to hand over investigatory documents related to a tawdry episode in October where a bikini-clad woman was seen stepping out of an on-duty firetruck and toward the Pink Poodle strip club.
In May, The Mercury News sued the city after it repeatedly refused to release records about its internal probe of the Oct. 5 scandal and any subsequent disciplinary actions taken against the firefighters involved. Despite multiple attempts from reporters and a media attorney to obtain the documents through routine records requests, the city argued their release was not in the public’s interest and would have violated the employees’ privacy.
In his ruling, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Thomas E. Kuhnle wrote that the law requires the city to give over investigatory records whenever it imposes discipline on an employee — and that the highly publicized incident garnered enough evidence and importance to compel full disclosure.
