The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that records from an investigation into financial misreporting and alleged sexual misconduct involving late former OU President David Boren will remain confidential.
The State Supreme Court wrote in its ruling that, after review of the record and substantive law, it found the university properly withheld disclosure of the Jones Day reports as documents protected by attorney-client privilege.
In 2021, OU alum and editor-in-chief of NonDoc Media Tres Savage filed a lawsuit against the university for violating the Open Records Act after NonDoc was denied reports regarding alleged sexual misconduct and misreporting of donation data under Boren and Vice President of University Development Jim “Tripp” Hall.
In 2024, Cleveland County Judge Michael Tupper ruled the documents were exempt from the Opens Records Act and OU had “properly exercised its statutory discretion” by denying the request. A month after Tupper’s ruling, Savage and NonDoc Media filed a petition in error to appeal the district court ruling.
“We agree with the district court’s findings,” the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s ruling reads. “The trial court did not err in denying NonDoc’s waiver arguments.”
Between 2018 and 2019, OU paid $1.5 million to law firm Jones Day to investigate sexual misconduct allegations against Boren and Hall and alumni donorship data reported to U.S. News & World Report after it was discovered OU had provided falsified data since 1999.
Lawyers for OU argued publicizing the results of the Jones Day report would release identifying information about victims, citing several exemptions under the Open Records Act including attorney-client privilege, personnel records and the constitutional right to privacy.
“The ruling that the reports are privileged and not subject to release represents a significant victory for the confidentiality of the Title IX and Title VII processes and the protection of witnesses,” the university wrote in a statement to the Daily Friday. “Individuals who contribute to a university’s investigation involving sensitive allegations do so with the assurance that their identities and information will be safeguarded through university policy, federal law, and attorney-client privilege.”
Title IX is a federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any U.S. education program or activity receiving federal funds. Title VII is a federal law banning employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.
In his dissenting opinion, Chief Justice Dustin Rowe wrote the record was unclear whether Jones Day conducted a Title IX investigation and he believes the reports are not protected by attorney-client privilege, the identity of informer privilege or a constitutional right to privacy.
“Accordingly, I would hold that summary judgement was improperly granted to the University,” Rowe wrote. “A record this intricate – with issues of first impression – requires exacting scrutiny on appeal. As such, I cannot accede to the Majority’s holding which simply rubber stamps the district court’s findings by assuming Title IX controls and that the joint interest agreement exists.”
In a statement to the Daily Friday, Savage called the decision disappointing.
“The investigations at OU were conducted with public money to investigate serious allegations about OU’s leaders, …” Savage wrote. “Because state leaders lack enough courage to make the ethical, moral, and accountable decision to release summaries of the findings, we remain committed to telling these stories and revealing these inconvenient truths in the future.”
Background
Boren served as OU’s president for nearly 24 years, from 1994 to 2018. Boren died in February at the age of 83.
Boren played a large role in the physical transformation of OU, founding the Honors College and the College of International Studies. Boren also was involved in the success and improvements of OU’s athletic department, hiring athletic director Joe Castiglione and former football head coach Bob Stoops in 1998.
Before his time as OU president, Boren served as a U.S. senator for 16 years and Oklahoma’s governor for one four-year term.
Hall was a longtime employee of Boren, spearheading numerous fundraising efforts for Boren, greatly increasing private donations to support OU’s endeavors. At OU, Hall served as the vice president of university development. When Boren was senator in 1994, Hall served as his director of eastern Oklahoma operations.
In 2019, Jess Eddy, an OU graduate and former teaching assistant, alleged he received unwanted sexual touching from Boren and was groped by Hall. A second OU graduate and university employee, Levi Hilliard, alleged Hall touched him inappropriately multiple times in 2017 and 2018. Hilliard settled his case against Hall in court in 2020.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation looked into the claims. At the end of OSBI’s investigation, neither Boren nor Hall faced indictments.
Jones Day investigated two matters for OU: the Boren and Hall allegations and misreported alumni participation and donor data to U.S. News & World Report. U.S. News and World Report is a media outlet that produces an annual best colleges list, ranking universities based on multiple criteria including a school’s alumni giving rate.
OU admitted to reporting incorrect information since 1999, and as a result, in 2019 and 2020, U.S. News & World Report stripped OU of its ranking on the best college list. OU reentered the U.S. News & World Report rankings in 2022 as the 127th best university nationally.
This story was edited by Macey Thaxton and Audrey McClour. Mary Ann Livingood and Sophie Hemker copy edited this story.
