MONTICELLO, NY — Sullivan County legislators briefly discussed a proposed new whistleblower policy, the creation of which was prompted by an investigation of complaints “by and about” Randy Parker, the commissioner of the Department of Family Services (DFS), who has been placed on administrative leave.

County Attorney Sam Yasgur outlined the necessary elements of an effective whistleblower policy. He said the current policy “has no requirement for looking into any allegation,” which should be in the policy. He said it should also define what kinds of complaints rise to the level of a whistleblower complaint, who gets to receive the complaint, who investigates it, and the outcome and consequences. He said if an employee files a frivolous complaint, “there have to be consequences.”

He said in the current county policy, and in many but not all federal policies regarding whistleblowers, the identity of the person who complains is protected. Current county policy provides for legislators to receive “statistics” about whistleblower investigations, which, he said, are not very helpful. He recommended the new policy provide legislators with executive summaries of complaints and outcomes without names.

Part of the proposed new policy defines inappropriate government conduct, which may be the subject of a whistleblower complaint, as “an activity, policy or practice of the employer or of one or more employees that is a violation of law, rule or regulation, which violation creates and presents a substantial and specific danger to the public health or safety.”

Legislator Cindy Gieger expressed concern that the draft languag, “violation of law, rule or regulation,” was overly broad and might spark complaints that don’t really rise to the appropriate level to trigger the whistleblower policy. She pointed out that 17 of the whistleblower complaints related to the investigation regarding DFS in the summer of 2014 should have been handled “in house.”

County manager Josh Potsek pointed out that the subject of the complaint must also “present substantial and specific danger to the public health or safety.”

Legislator Jonathan Rouis said he would rather have an employee come forward and be told he had misinterpreted the policy rather than “discourage an employee from bringing a possible complaint, because that’s how fraud, waste and abuse gets rooted out.”

He said, “We have to try not to make this so restrictive that people feel that they’re going to be penalized for bringing up something that isn’t malicious... It should apply to rules and regulations, and not just ‘did you steal money?’”

The other policy under consideration is progressive discipline regarding employees who may violate a rule or policy. According to the document legislators are considering, “The usual sequence of corrective actions includes an oral warning, a written warning, suspension with or without pay, probation, and finally termination of employment. In deciding which initial corrective action would be appropriate, a supervisor will consider the seriousness of the infraction, the circumstances surrounding the matter, and the employee’s previous record.”

The proposed policies will be studied by the legislators and considered for adoption at the personnel committee in March.

Petition for Parker

The discussion about policies came the day after about 54 county employees signed a petition supporting Parker and objecting to his “sudden suspicion and pending termination.” The signatories faulted Sandy Shaddock, representative of Teamsters Local 445, for lodging a public complaint about the department’s handling of Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which resulted in a large backlog of HEAP applications, sparking the move to terminate Parker. The complaint was made during the public comment portion of a county meeting in January.

The petition said, “Ms. Shaddock never requested permission from this body on this public stance; therefore it should be known that Ms. Shaddock’s actions were her own, personally….”

It continued, “We believe Commissioner Parker has initiated important reforms within our department, and we appreciate his management style…

The 2014-2015 HEAP deficiency, while problematic, is no more significant than it has been in years past and under previous administrations.”