Photo by Melissa Diaz Hernandez
Former Idyllwild Water District (IWD) General Manager Michael Creighton was fired from his role on Sept. 25, 2019 and filed (Jan. 31) then served (Feb. 25) a wrongful termination lawsuit against IWD.
As the newspaper previously reported the lawsuit against IWD was based on alleged violations of the California Government Code’s Fair Employment and Housing Act and the California Labor Code.
The complaint sets forth two causes of action. One alleges that the IWD board of directors unlawfully terminated him from his general manager position in retaliation for disciplinary actions he took in response to the Chief Financial Officer Hosny Shouman’s reported harassment of female coworkers. The lawsuit also alleges that some of the district’s board members violated the Brown Act.
Creighton “was terminated as a result of plaintiff’s opposition to unlawful practices engaged in by [Hosny] Shouman [chief financial officer], and the board with regard to perceived violations of the Brown Act,” the lawsuit alleges. It also alleges that if it were “not for the unlawful termination, plaintiff would have continued working at least four more years.”
After Creighton’s termination on Sept. 25, the district hired Darren Milner to serve as general manager. Milner was with the district for a month before abruptly resigning citing in his resignation letter that he was “experiencing an unhealthy culture and difficult work environment at the district due to poor communication.” Field Supervisor Mitch Freeman stepped into the role of acting general manager and the district recently brought on Leo Havener to fill the role.
When looking further into the allegations mentioned in the lawsuit, the newspaper determined that there were specific documents and correspondence that should be reviewed in order to get the full story and subsequently submitted multiple public records requests on March 12.
Note: Amy Miller-Hawley (mentioned in the following public records requests) is no longer with the district as of Feb. 19. When asked about staffing on Feb. 28, Freeman (in the role of acting general manager) gave the following response: “An Administrative Assistant [Jeannine Copelin] is presently temporarily out of the office, and temporary part-time help is assisting in her absence.”
The requests and responses are as follows:
1. Request: How many written complaints have there been about Hosny Shouman in the last three years? In addition, were Amy Miller-Hawley and Jeannine Copelin [administrative assistant] able to speak to the board about the treatment by Hosny Shouman.
Response: This does not call for a public record. In addition, under section 6254(c) of the California Public Records Act, certain personnel files are protected from disclosure under the exemption for “personnel, medical, or similar files, the disclosure of which would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” In this instance, the district finds the public interest in employee privacy clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure of such records. (Govt. Code Section 6255.)
2. Request: A log of any and all payments made to every employee and board member for the last three years.
Response: The district will provide a record of payments made to employees and board members in the last three years within 14 days of March 20, 2020. To the extent those records contain any confidential information, such as bank account information or social security numbers, or tax information, such information will be redacted, based on constitutional and personnel right to privacy and the finding that the public interest in privacy over bank account, tax information and social security numbers outweighs public interest in such records. (Govt. Code Section 6254(c), 6255.) Editor’s note: The newspaper still has not received the records as of press time.
3. Request: All emails and communications between board members and Amy Miller-Hawley from June 1, 2019 to the present.
Response: The district will need additional time to search for these records and anticipates advising on the extent of disclosable records within 14 days of March 20, 2020. The request requires searching for, and appropriately examining a large number of separate and distinct records, compiling data, including emails, to locate any responsive records demanded in a single request. If you can identify the subject matter of the emails and communications, it would make it easier to locate the subject records. Editor’s note: The newspaper still has not received the records as of press time.
4. Request: All emails and communications to and from Michael Creighton to all board members and Hosny Shouman from Sept. 1, 2019 through Sept. 26, 2019.
Response: The district will need additional time to search for these records and anticipates advising on the extent of disclosable records within 14 days
of March 20, 2020. The request requires searching for, and appropriately examining a large number of separate and distinct records, compiling data, including emails, to locate any responsive records demanded in a single request. If you can identify the subject matter, this would make it easier to locate the records you seek. Editor’s note: The newspaper still has not received the records as of press time.
5. Request: A list of all current employees and interns for the district and their salary.
Response: A list of current employees and interns and any salaries for them will be produced within 14 days of March 20, 2020. Editor’s note: The newspaper still has not received the records as of press time.
6. Request: Emails and any written communications between Jeannine Copelin and [Board President] Dr. Charles Schelly from Sept. 1 to Oct. 30, 2019.
Response: The district will need additional time to search for these records and anticipates advising on the extent of disclosable records within 14 days of March 20, 2020. The request requires searching for, and appropriately examining a large number of separate and distinct records, compiling data, including emails, to locate any responsive records demanded in a single request. Identifying the subject matter would make it easier to identify the records you seek. Editor’s note: The newspaper still has not received the records as of press time.
Response (continued): Thus, the District is in the process of reviewing records to determine the extent of any responsive records and whether any are exempt from disclosure pursuant to the PRA. Pursuant to Government Code 6253(c),(2), (1), we estimate that review to be completed by April 3, 2020. After the review is completed, we will notify you when disclosable records are available for your review. You may review records at the District offices and may request that we provide copies. A duplication fee applies for the cost of paper copies at the rate of ten cents per page. We will inform you of the estimated cost of copies when our review is complete.
Under section 6254(c) of the California Public Records Act, certain personnel files are protected from disclosure under the exemption for “Personnel, medical, or similar files, the disclosure of which would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” Subsection (k) exempts “Records, the disclosure of which is exempted or prohibited pursuant to federal or state law, including, but not limited to, provisions of the Evidence Code relating to privilege.” After the district’s review of records is complete, the district will advise you whether any records were withheld based on these or any other PRA exemption or privilege, including but not limited to the litigation privilege or deliberative process.
7. Request: All memos and emails to and from Michael Creighton from Sept. 24 to Sept. 26, 2019.
Response: No response.