January 10, 2007; School District 531 (Byron)
12/20/2007 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:On November 26, 2007, IPAD received a letter from Kristi A. Hastings, an attorney, on behalf of her client, Todd County. In her letter, Ms. Hastings asked the Commissioner to issue an advisory opinion regarding the classification of certain data Todd County maintains. IPAD requested clarification and additional information, which Ms. Hastings provided in an e-mail dated November 29, 2007. In response to Ms. Hastings' request, IPAD, on behalf of the Commissioner, wrote to Jennifer Petersen, an attorney, on behalf of her client, Michael Petersen, former County Administrator. The purposes of this letter, dated December 6, 2007, were to inform her of Ms. Hastings' request and to ask her to submit comments, which she did in a letter dated December 14, 2007. A summary of the facts as Ms. Hastings presented them follows. Mr. Petersen was hired in the fall of 2007 as County Administrator. The terms of his employment agreement contained a six-month probationary period. While still in the probationary period, the County terminated his employment after several employee complaints regarding Mr. Petersen were investigated by an independent investigator . . . The County Board passed a resolution and motion to terminate Mr. Petersen's employment which states, in part: [i]nformation has been brought to the attention of this Board concerning County Administrator Michael Petersen relative to the potential need for disciplinary action . . . According to Ms. Hastings, Mr. Petersen is not a union member and is not subject to any Collective Bargaining Agreement with the County. She raised the issue of the possibility that Mr. Petersen could seek a remedy other than arbitration. On November 16, 2007, the County received a request from Tim King of the Browerville Blade, for copies of the following data: 1. The nature of the complaint or charges against Mr. Petersen by the Todd County Commissioners. 2. The final disposition of the disciplinary action against Mr. Petersen together with the specific reasons for the action and the data, investigative reports, and other written material that document the basis for the action. 3. Any investigative reports or memos regarding the firing of Mr. Petersen that document the basis for that action. 4. The terms of any agreement settling any dispute arising from the disciplinary action and firing of Mr. Petersen. On November 20, 2007, Ms. Hastings replied to Mr. King, stating that she intended to request this opinion. She also told him that the County and Mr. Petersen did not enter into a settlement agreement. The County paid him a 30-day severance, per the County's employment agreement with him. In her comments to the Commissioner, Ms. Petersen wrote that because Mr. Petersen was not a public official within the meaning of Minnesota Statutes, section 13.43, subdivision 2(e), the data at issue are not public. Issue:Based on Ms. Hasting's opinion request, the Commissioner agreed to address the following issue:
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Personnel data
Final disposition of disciplinary action