State high court rules that COVID business data can be released

The Wisconsin Supreme Court, in a 4–3 decision, ruled that the Wisconsin Department of Health Services can release information about positive COVID-19 cases at businesses to comply with public records requests, according to a Wisconsin State Journal report. The decision comes after a two-year battle filed by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the state’s largest business organization. In the narrative for the majority, Justice Rebecca Dallet wrote, “The issue is whether the public records law’s general prohibition on pre-release judicial review of decisions to provide access to public records bars WMC’s claims. We conclude that it does, and therefore affirm the court of appeals’ decision.”