A state agency says UConn needs to go back to school when it comes to freedom of information requests.
This week the state’s Freedom of Information Commission ordered UConn to hand over hundreds of records and send staff to more training on Connecticut’s FOI laws.
This is all in connection with former men’s head basketball coach Kevin Ollie, who claims he is owed the remainder of his contract and needs documents from the school to prove it.
UConn fired Ollie in March 2018, citing NCAA violations, allowing the school to forgo paying him $10 million left on his contract.
UConn has been refusing to give certain documents to Ollie, citing student privacy laws.
What got UConn in further hot water is the FOI Commission says the university ignored the commission's orders and would not even let the panel review the documents in question in private.
The commission says UConn also showed up to prior hearings in this FOI case unprepared, so it’s ordering UConn staff to undergo FOI training.
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UConn tells NBC Connecticut it is appealing the FOI Commission ruling.
The university says it has already handed over thousands of documents to Ollie.
UConn says federal student privacy laws have very few exceptions when it comes to the release of its records.
