International Association of Fire Fighters Local 4646 v. Village of Oak Brook

Plaintiff filed a lawsuit against the Village of Oak Brook alleging that it held a closed meeting in violation of the Open Meetings Act and that it wrongly denied a request for records pertaining to the meeting in violation of the Freedom of Information Act. The trial court granted the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment, ordered that the village disclose the requested records, and ordered that the village pay attorneys fees. The village appealed and the appellate court affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded. The appellate court found that the village did not satisfy the collective-negotiating-matters exception to OMA because there was no active or imminent collective bargaining when it held its closed session and that the village did not discuss probable or imminent litigation and, as a result, the trial court did not err when it entered summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff. However, the appellate court further found that the trial court erred when it required disclosure under FOIA without consideration of whether any of the requested documents were privileged attorney-client communications because privileged communications are exempt from disclosure. (McDADE and ALBRECHT, concurring)