Haines Borough Assembly member Debra Schnabel last week submitted for the assembly’s consideration a policy statement that would discourage the borough from entering into nondisclosure agreements with employees who leave their jobs with an unfavorable work history.
Schnabel called for the policy at a July meeting, prompted by the borough’s negotiation of nondisclosure agreements with former police chief Gary Lowe and former police sergeant Jason Joel.
Joel resigned in April 2011 after the department received complaints about Joel sexually harassing women, including co-worker Angie Goodwin. Lowe was placed on administrative leave in March 2013 and resigned the following month following allegations of verbally abusing staff.
Lowe and Joel resigned in exchange for the municipality’s agreement to not discuss complaints about their alleged abusive behavior.
Schnabel’s draft policy states the borough “shall adhere to standards of fair disclosure in providing reference for an applicant with employment history with the Haines Borough.”
“Fair disclosure provides for the borough manager or the manager’s designee discretion in communicating information about a prior employee’s tenure and termination,” the policy states.
Employees would be informed of the policy and would sign a document acknowledging it.
“We’re not trying to ruin anyone’s reputation. We’re just trying to be honest about the issues we had with employees,” Schnabel said in an interview last week. “We’re not going to hold ourselves to just, ‘Yes, they worked here.’”
Mayor Stephanie Scott said the policy is being sent to the borough attorney and workers’ union for review. It will also be sent to the assembly’s Personnel Committee, Scott said.
Scott said she is confused by the policy’s wording.
“I couldn’t understand it,” she said. “When I read it, I said, ‘What does this mean?’”
But Scott said the issue of nondisclosure agreements and employee evaluations deserves attention. “I support whatever it is that we can do so that a supervisor or a manager when asked for a reference of an employee can say something that is legitimate and defensible,” she said.
Problems arise when evaluations aren’t conducted frequently and thoroughly, she said. Public employees have “huge protections,” Scott said, and employers need to have documented proof of failures or shortcomings in the case of termination.
To that end, Scott said she would like to “tighten up evaluation procedures so that if we have an employee that has to be dismissed we can do it on fair footing without fear of retribution.”
Manager David Sosa said the policy is under review by staff to ensure it complies with borough code, borough charter, Alaska Statute, and the collective bargaining agreement between the borough and its employees’ union.