Complaint Opinion 03-04
Date
08/21/2003
Number
03-04
Topic
Failure to discipline - public records - retaliation - jurisdiction
Respondent
Milt Doumit
Question/Complaint
The Secretary of the Senate was alleged to have failed to discipline employees for their e-mail use, failure to comply with requests for copies of e-mails, and for retaliation against staff who brought the e-mails to the attention of the Secretary.
Summary
Internal Senate policies are administered by the Secretary, the Board is limited to determining whether the Act has been violated. The Superior Court is the proper forum for appealing Senate decisions denying or restricting access to records requested by an individual under the Public Records Act. The retaliation alleged here is a workplace issue, not an Ethics Act issue. RCW 42.17.340, 42.17.341, 42.52.320(1), Complaints 2003 - No's. 2 and 3. Dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.