The legal team at Parkland Memorial Hospital, the public hospital for Dallas County, has refused to share an executive compensation study with The Dallas Morning News, according to a report from the newspaper.
Parkland's board commissioned a consulting firm to conduct a $150,000 study on executive compensation. The study was completed in April and presented during an executive board meeting in May, according to the report. But when The Dallas Morning News requested a copy of the report July 9, Parkland's legal team refused.
Parkland wrote a letter to the Texas Attorney General's Office in late July, arguing that it was trying to implement a "customized compensation plan" to attract, recruit and retain "qualified key employees," according to the report. Parkland's senior attorney, Thao La, JD, said making the "sensitive information" public would "substantially" harm the hospital, the greatest risk being competitors trying to recruit Parkland's executives based on information in the compensation report.
A county commissioner cited in the report also requested a copy of the compensation study but did not receive it.
Joseph Larsen, JD, an attorney representing The Dallas Morning News in open records issues, said the hospital's argument to withhold the report is not applicable, since a government entity funded the study. Mr. Larsen also said Parkland's primary purpose in writing to the attorney general "appears to be to delay release of the report," according to the report.
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