June 17, 2015

Disclosure of confidential information



Disclosure of confidential information
OATH Index No. 984/15.

Administrative Law Judge John B. Spooner sustained charges that agency attorney had disclosed confidential information through emails to a private attorney representing an inmate in a lawsuit against the City in violation of Department rules and state and city laws.

ALJ Spooner found mitigation in the attorney’s long unblemished service record, his forthrightness when confronted with the emails, his acknowledgment that he made a mistake, his expression of remorse and previously served 30-day pre-hearing suspension.

Posted on the Internet at:http://archive.citylaw.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/oath/15_cases/15-984.pdf[Modified on penalty: Commissioner imposed the penalty of termination of employment, finding the attorney had breached the attorney-client privilege and his disclosures rendered him a security risk to the Department.]

A Reasonable Disciplinary Penalty Under the Circumstances - a 442-page volume focusing on determining an appropriate disciplinary penalty to be imposed on an employee in the public service in instances where the employee has been found guilty of misconduct or incompetence. Now available in two formats - as a large, paperback print edition, and as an e-book. For more information click on