Knapp Med. Ctr., Inc. v. Grass (Summary)
RIGHT TO KNOW LAW
Knapp Med. Ctr., Inc. v. Grass, No. 13-12-00099-CV (Tex. App. June 6, 2013)
The Court of Appeals of Texas (“appellate court”) reversed a lower court’s judgment and held that a medical center was exempt from a state’s disclosure requirements. The disclosures were sought by an attorney who requested a number of documents, including a copy of the medical center’s bylaws and federal tax returns. The medical center claimed that it was not required to comply with this requirement based on an exemption to the state disclosure law that exempted any entity that did not solicit contributions from the public in excess of $10,000.
The appellate court held that medical center was exempt from the disclosure requirement. While an affiliated foundation was formed for the sole purpose of soliciting funds from the public and providing financial support to the hospital, the court ruled that the foundation was a separate entity from the medical center. The fact that the foundation then made grants to the medical center did not affect the medical center’s exemption from the financial disclosure law.