The city of San Jose is being sued by The Mercury News for refusing to disclose public records related to the “Pink Poodle” incident, where a woman in a bikini was dropped off at a strip club by a San Jose fire engine. The news outlet had filed two public records requests to determine what disciplinary action was taken against the fire department employees and to uncover further details of the incident. However, both requests were denied, leading to the lawsuit. The newspaper argues that the California Public Records Act allows people to access such documents so that the public can form its own opinions. The executive editor of Media News Group, Frank Pine, stated that the public deserves to know the details of the fire engine’s service and the Pink Poodle incident. The city officials did not respond to the request for comment on the lawsuit. The city had previously argued that releasing the public records would violate the firefighters’ privacy and that there is no strong public interest in viewing them. The scandal started when an Instagram video was posted on October 6th, 2022, by an account called San José Foos, showing the woman getting off the fire truck in front of the Pink Poodle. The San Jose Fire Chief, Robert Sapien Jr., had called the video “concerning” and said that an investigation would be launched into the incident.
Despite a request for comment from SFGATE on the lawsuit, the city of San Jose remained silent. According to the Mercury News, city officials argued that disclosing the public records would breach the privacy of the firefighters, and that there is not a significant public interest in their release. The scandal began on October 6th when a woman wearing a bikini and high heels was filmed disembarking from a fire truck parked outside the Pink Poodle on Bascom Avenue. The video was posted on Instagram by an account named San José Foos. The day after the incident, San Jose Fire Chief Robert Sapien Jr. released a statement describing the video as “concerning” and announced that an investigation would be launched. The department also stated that the results of the investigation would be made public.
n March 10, Sapien released a statement indicating the end of the investigation into the “Pink Poodle” incident, but it didn’t provide any specifics regarding what occurred that night. In response to numerous public inquiries, he released another statement on April 25, in which he shared some details that weren’t included in the previous memo, such as the location of the fire engine that night. According to Sapien, on October 5, a fire crew transported an unauthorized male passenger from the fire station to his job at the Pink Poodle at 9 pm. When the truck arrived at the Pink Poodle at 9:06 pm, a woman got into the vehicle and requested a ride. Initially, the fire crew declined to provide a ride, but the woman persisted. The woman was then driven around the block and dropped off at the strip club at 9:10 pm. The truck made another stop before returning to the fire station. However, Sapien did not provide an explanation for this stop. Call records show that no service requests were made at or near the two establishments at that time. In his April memo, Sapien stated that transporting unauthorized passengers goes against city and fire department policies and that appropriate disciplinary action was taken, but the city refused to disclose the details of the disciplinary measures taken due to concerns about the employees’ privacy. Jake Pisani, a spokesperson for the fire department, stated that the department could not comment on the ongoing lawsuit beyond Sapien’s March and April memos.
According to David Loy, legal director at the government transparency nonprofit First Amendment Coalition, public records can sometimes be denied due to concerns of an “unwarranted invasion of personal privacy,” as he told SFGATE. However, Loy also emphasized that there is a significant public interest in accessing documents related to an investigation into public employee misconduct, particularly when there is clear evidence of wrongdoing. Loy added that fire engines are public resources intended for public service, not for private use, and that whenever there is a serious question of public resource misuse, it is imperative that the public has access to the full story, not just the official version. When the Mercury News’ requests for public records were denied, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan expressed disappointment and suggested the news outlet should contact the City Attorney’s Office for more information. However, the City Attorney’s Office did not provide a comment to SFGATE. Loy emphasized that it is essential for the public to be able to access public records in order to scrutinize the city’s investigation process.