TWIN FALLS, Idaho (AP) A south-central Idaho judge has rejected a request to force Barnes & Noble to turn over customer receipt records.
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The information is being sought in an effort to discover the identity of a person who posed as former College of Southern Idaho President Jerry Beck and sent a threatening email from the bookseller's Wi-Fi hot spot in Twin Falls to Edit Szanto.
Szanto requested the information as part of her discrimination lawsuit against the school.
"We're disappointed that Barnes & Noble does not have to immediately turn over those records," Szanto's attorney, Tara Martens-Miller,
in a story on Tuesday.
But 5th District Judge Richard Bevan said in his ruling late last month that federal courts have ruled that allegations of evidence possibly being lost aren't sufficient to justify what is called "pre-litigation discovery." Bevan also noted that Barnes & Noble says it doesn't keep Internet usage records, and doesn't have cameras so there's no surveillance footage, two other items Martens-Miller sought.
Barnes & Noble attorneys have called the request for information, which also included employee records, a "fishing expedition."
Szanto, a vice president at the College of Southern Idaho, worked at the school for 17 years. Szanto earned a number of college degrees and started working full time at the college in 1996 as director of the instructional technology center. In 2004 she became library director, and in 2007 was promoted to vice president.
In January she was put on paid leave until her contract ended June 30.
In March she filed documents indicating her intention to bring a discrimination lawsuit against the school, a precursor to a lawsuit against a public entity.
She said she's received excellent performance evaluations that included her communication and collaboration and has never received disciplinary action.
Szanto contends that CSI President Jeff Fox and others targeted her with discrimination, retaliation and unequal pay because of her gender and national origin.
Szanto and her family left Romania as political refugees and came to the United States in 1990.
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Information from: The Times-News
