The Chicago Tribune is suing the Chicago Transit Authority for allegedly violating the Freedom of Information Act after the transit agency failed to turn over records related to the 2023 Yellow Line crash, among other requests.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court, cites six FOIA requests made by Tribune reporter Sarah Freishtat over 14 months in which the CTA did not respond promptly, fully or at all.
“The CTA has engaged in a pattern of violating FOIA, requesting extensions of time in response to the Tribune’s proper FOIA requests, then failing to produce the requested records, which reflects a complete disregard of its obligation to provide public records,” the lawsuit states.
A CTA spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Friday.
The first of the six FOIA requests was made Dec. 22, 2023, seeking correspondence between the CTA and federal and state transportation agencies after the Yellow Line crash, which happened one month earlier.
In the November 2023 incident, a Yellow Line train, also known as the Skokie Swift, hit a snowplow on the tracks while approaching the Howard station in Chicago, injuring two dozen passengers and causing $8.7 million in damage.
Under the state’s Freedom of Information Act, public agencies have up to 10 days to comply with or deny an information request. They may also ask for additional time to compile and provide complex records.
The CTA took until July 2024 — nearly seven months later — to come up with a “partial response” to the Yellow Line request, providing communication records related to the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Transit Administration. However, Freishtat never received promised information regarding the CTA’s communications with the Illinois Department of Transportation, according to the lawsuit.
In addition, the CTA has failed to fully comply with subsequent FOIA requests, including overtime spending, use of CTA vehicles by agency officials, and personnel records of employees involved in the Yellow Line crash. The most recent request was submitted Jan. 13 seeking all severance payments made to CTA President Dorval Carter, who announced he was stepping down at the end of January. The request was extended to Jan. 28, but the CTA has yet to provide the information, according to the lawsuit.
This is the fifth lawsuit brought against the CTA in the last year for failure to comply with its FOIA obligations, including one by the Chicago Sun-Times.
In recent years, the Tribune has prevailed in several lawsuits against the city of Chicago and the Chicago Police Department for failing to comply with FOIA requests made by reporters.
The lawsuit against the CTA is seeking to compel the transit agency to promptly produce all requested non-exempt records, without charging processing fees, as well as awarding the Tribune attorneys’ fees and costs.
rchannick@chicagotribune.com
