Regents of the University of California v. Superior Court

# University of California Records Case Summary ## What Happened The University of California's governing board (the Regents) was asked to release detailed financial information about private equity firms that managed some of the university's investments. Someone requested this information under California's Public Records Act, which allows people to access government records. The Regents refused to provide the private firms' internal documents. ## What the Court Decided California's Court of Appeal sided with the Regents. The court ruled that the university did not have to release the private equity firms' records because those documents don't qualify as "public records." The Regents didn't create, own, or control these private company files—the firms did—so they couldn't be forced to share them. ## Why This Matters for Workers This ruling affects workplace transparency. It suggests that private companies' internal financial documents may stay private, even when government organizations hold them as investments. Workers seeking information about how their pension funds or university endowments are managed may face limits on what records they can access.