December 15, 2000; School District 15 (St. Francis)
12/15/2000 10:14:43 AM
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to section 13.072 of Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13 - the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. It is based on the facts and information available to the Commissioner as described below.
Facts and Procedural History:For purposes of simplification, the information presented by the person who requested this opinion and the response from the government entity with which the person disagrees are presented in summary form. Copies of the complete submissions are on file at the offices of IPA and, except for any data classified as not public, are available for public access. On September 11, 2000, IPA received a letter from Paul C. Ratwik, an attorney, on behalf of his client, School District 15, St. Francis. Mr. Ratwik's request required additional information, which IPA received on October 23 and 25, 2000. In his letter, Mr. Ratwik asked the Commissioner to issue an advisory opinion regarding the classification of certain data maintained by the District. A summary of the facts of this matter follows. According to Mr. Ratwik, following a complaint made by a parent against a District employee, the District conducted an investigation. Upon completion of the investigation, the District took disciplinary against the employee, who resigned after receiving notification of the discipline. Subsequently, the employee's union filed a grievance on the employee's behalf, which it is entitled to do under the collective bargaining agreement. Mr. Ratwik stated: [t]he employee appeared at and participated with the union at the Level II grievance hearing which was held on August 28, 2000. The matter has not yet been resolved and arbitration remains a possibility. Issue:In his request for an opinion, Mr. Ratwik asked the Commissioner to address the following issue:
Discussion:Data on public employees are termed personnel data and are classified at Minnesota Statutes, section 13.43. Public personnel data are listed in subdivision 2; all other personnel data are private. Pursuant to section 13.43, subdivision 2 (a)(5), the final disposition of any disciplinary action together with the specific reasons for the action and data documenting the basis of the action, excluding data that would identify confidential sources who are employees of the public body, are public data. Pursuant to section 13.43, subdivision 2 (b): For purposes of this subdivision, a final disposition occurs when the state agency, statewide system, or political subdivision makes its final decision about the disciplinary action, regardless of the possibility of any later proceedings or court proceedings. In the case of arbitration proceedings arising under collective bargaining agreements, a final disposition occurs at the conclusion of the arbitration proceedings, or upon the failure of the employee to elect arbitration within the time provided by the collective bargaining agreement.Final disposition includes a resignation by an individual when the resignation occurs after the final decision of the state agency, statewide system, political subdivision, or arbitrator. [Emphasis added.] Thus, in general, if an employee who is not covered by a collective bargaining agreement resigns after the government entity makes its final decision, then there has been a final disposition of disciplinary action. However, in this case, there is a collective bargaining agreement that provides for arbitration, which remains a possibility. The terms of the agreement allow a grievance to be filed either by the employee or, as is the case here, by the union on behalf of the employee. Thus, the statutory provision quoted immediately above that governs discipline in the case of arbitration proceedings is applicable here. Accordingly, there has been no final disposition of the disciplinary action. Final disposition in this situation will occur when arbitration is either concluded, or is no longer a possibility. Opinion:Based on the facts and information provided, my opinion on the issue raised by Mr. Ratwik is as follows:
Signed:
David F. Fisher
Dated: December 15, 2000 |
Personnel data
Grievance filed by union
Final disposition of disciplinary action
Resignation
