Effie Panagiotakis v. Ipswich, Town of - Human Resources (SPR 20200864)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records June 12, 2020 SPR20/0864 Mary Gallivan Human Resources Town of Ipswich 25 Green Street Ipswich, MA 01983 Dear Ms. Gallivan: I have received the petition of Attorney Effie Panagiotakis appealing the response of the Town of Ipswich (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on March 10, 2020, Attorney Panagiotakis made two separate requests, which included records related to employment application, resumes, employment verification forms, annual salaries, payroll registers, payroll administration records, earning records, overtimes payroll reports, vacation reports, appointment certificates, performance evaluations, etc. Previous Appeal This request was the subject of a previous determination. See SPR20/0783 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (May 29, 2020). In my May 29th determination, I found the Town provided a supplemental response dated May 15, 2020. Unsatisfied with the Town’s response, Attorney Panagiotakis petitioned this office, and SPR20/0864 was opened as a result. The Public Records Law The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A(d); 950 C.M.R. 32.03(4). “Public records” is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any town of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre • pre@sec.state.ma.us

Mary Gallivan SPR20/0864 Page 2 June 12, 2020 must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. Current Appeal In her appeal, Attorney Panagiotakis states “[u]pon brief review of the attached documents, it is clear that I never received anything, including a cover letter or other correspondence containing said supplemental response. It appears that the Town of Ipswich relies on exemptions, which I do not believe apply to my requests, as the information I asked for should be publicly available. I respectfully ask you to re-open the case. I shall review the attached documents more thoroughly next week.” Subsequent to the opening of the appeal, Attorney Austin Anderson of Anderson Kreiger provided a response on behalf of the Town to this office on June 1, 2020. Attorney Anderson indicates Attorney Panagiotakis was sent a supplemental response on May 15, 2020, and attached the email sent to her. Based on the foregoing, it is unclear what the basis of Attorney Panagiotakis’s appeal is. Specifically, it is uncertain what portions of the Town’s claims under Exemption (c) Attorney Panagiotakis objects to. Attorney Panagiotakis is reminded that all petitions for appeal “shall specifically describe the nature of the requestor’s objections to the response or failure to timely respond.” 950 C.M.R. 32.08(l)(f). Conclusion Accordingly, Attorney Panagiotakis must describe her specific objections to the Town’s May 5th response. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Effie Panagiotakis, Esq. Austin Anderson, Esq.