Judy Patterson v. Chatham, Town of (SPR 20221338)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records June 22, 2022 SPR22/1338 Jill R. Goldsmith Town Manager Town of Chatham 549 Main Street Chatham, MA 02633 Dear Ms. Goldsmith: I have received the petition of Judy Patterson appealing the response of the Town of Chatham (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On March 3, 2022, Ms. Patterson sent the Town a request for records. The Town asked Ms. Patterson to provide clarification. On March 20th, Ms. Patterson reworded her request to apply to information from September 1, 2011 to the present, specifically: “The results of all suits and or tort claims alleged for non-performance or breach of contract for or related to any and all work orders of the [Town] by third-party contractors, or otherwise. Please identify all legal costs associated with the referenced actions, and include all settlements made for or on behalf of the [Town] by, for or through its insurance underwriters, as well as settlements paid directly or indirectly by the Town. I am also looking for all legal and associated/incidental expenses including an estimate of staff hours that have been expended to date with ongoing litigation, including but not limited to The Fish Pier, 90 Bridge Street, and the airport; In addition, please provide all costs incurred by, for, or on behalf of the Town, or any of its salaried employees, the Board of Selectmen, or Town Counsel related to adverse personnel actions as alleged to have been committed by the Town or its representative for the years, inclusive; and On an annualized basis, please identify the number of employees that separated from the Town during the same period, and identify the number of those separations that were voluntary and the number that were involuntary.” 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

Jill R. Goldsmith SPR22/1338 Page 2 June 22, 2022 Prior appeal On March 25th, the Town acknowledged Ms. Patterson’s March 20th request. On April 12th, Ms. Patterson emailed the Town asking if the records were being compiled. As a result of not receiving any response to her April 12th email, Ms. Patterson petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor), and the prior appeal was opened. See SPR22/0894 Determination of the Supervisor (April 29, 2022). Subsequently, the Town provided a June 3, 2022 response. As a result of the Town’s June 3rd response, Ms. Patterson petitioned the Supervisor again, and the current appeal was opened. Ms. Patterson’s further clarification of request sent to this office In a June 22nd email to an attorney in this office Ms. Patterson further clarified the records she still seeks and has not been provided. Specifically, Ms. Patterson requested: “…the names of anyone, or any business with any lawsuit against the [Town] since Ms. Goldsmith started her position in 2011. In addition, the names of individuals/and/or businesses, I would like the amount of settlements paid for these lawsuits against the [Town]. In addition to these, I would like to know the legal costs associated with all of these suits – specific to each individual suit filed against the [T]own. …I would like to know the number of employees [Ms. Goldsmith] has terminated, as well as any monies she has paid to individuals. I understand employee confidentiality and the reasons behind keeping their identities confidential; however, there have been wrongful termination suits filed by former employees and I’d like to know the number of terminations as well as the monies paid to former employees.” The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)(ii). In accordance with the Public Records Law, custodians are expected to use their superior knowledge of the records in their custody to assist requestors in obtaining the desired information. See 950 C.M.R. 32.04(5). In light of Ms. Patterson’s appeal petition, it is unclear whether there are any additional records responsive to this request. Again, I encourage the parties to continue to work together to resolve Ms. Patterson’s request as clarified on June 22nd. Order Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Ms. Patterson with a response to her request, clarified on June 3rd and June 22nd, in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within 10 business days. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us.

Jill R. Goldsmith SPR22/1338 Page 3 June 22, 2022 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Judy Patterson