As reported by Center Square:
The Shapiro administration’s handling of a sexual misconduct complaint against a cabinet member, and one reporter’s request to know more about the investigation behind it, may cost taxpayers a lot of money.
In a court transcript obtained by The Center Square, an attorney representing the Office of the Governor says the state deleted internal emails sent and received over an eight-day period by a deputy aide in its Legislative Affairs Office who reported the inappropriate behavior.
“That, frankly, should not be surprising that an account of a departed employee would be disposed of in accordance with the records retention schedules,” says Thomas Howell, the administration’s attorney, during a Feb. 12 hearing in Commonwealth Court. “Those retention schedules are public, and they establish that, you know, your general emails are deleted as soon as they’re no longer necessary.”
Thomas Breth, an attorney for Broad + Liberty, said during the hearing that emails from former employees are kept between three and eight years. The ones in question date back only two years.
The Center Square spoke with one of the attorneys representing the reporter who requested the communications. They said that the “stunning” admission has now generated a request for sanctions against the administration for violating state laws dictating records retention.
The ongoing dispute dates back to late 2023 when the news organization filed a public records request for the emails, along with other internal documents, that were sent between March 2, 2023, and March 10, 2023 – crucially, the last week the aide worked after filing the complaint and resigning.
The complaint alleged Mike Vereb, Shapiro’s former secretary of Legislative Affairs, retaliated against the staffer after reporting his inappropriate comments in February of that same year. Vereb resigned six months later, just weeks before a $295,000 taxpayer-funded settlement became public.
An attorney involved in the proceedings told The Center Square that if sanctions against the administration are imposed, it will have to cover Broad + Liberty’s court fees.
When asked about the issue during a news conference on Tuesday, Gov. Josh Shapiro said he hadn’t read Broad + Liberty’s reporting about it.
“I didn’t read the story and I’m confident my administration follows all document retention policies,” he said.
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