PHILLIPSBURG MAYOR STEVE ELLIS SAYS TOWN COUNCIL BROKE LAW WITH ILLEGAL SEARCH OF CONFIDENTIAL PERSONNEL FILES

Mayor Says Council’s Witch Hunt is Violating Employee Privacy

PHILLIPSBURG, NJ (March 13, 2019) –Phillipsburg Mayor Steve Ellis released the following statement in response to the Phillipsburg Town Council’s announcement of their investigation into the contents of Town employee personnel files:

On Tuesday, March 12, 2019, the Phillipsburg Town Council announced the forming of an ad-hoc committee to investigate information obtained from the personnel files of town employees. It was revealed at the meeting that Council President Robert Fulper accessed these files. He then discussed the contents of these files in public and with the media. In taking these actions, there has very likely been a violation of state statutes, the town code and town employees’ reasonable expectation of privacy. These statutes exist to protect the privacy and confidentiality of personnel files and to protect employees from these types of abuses.

In accessing these files, the Town Council and Town Clerk Vicky Kleiner, who complied with the Town Council’s request for the files, may have violated the Health Insurance Portability and Privacy Act; the administrative code; civil service regulations; state statutory authority and attorney client privilege.

A public agency has a responsibility and an obligation to safeguard from public access a citizen’s reasonable expectation of privacy. NJSA 47-1A-10 clearly states that personnel and pension records are not considered public information, with limited exception. The public trust was broken when the Town employees’ personnel files were illegally accessed by Councilman Fulper for political purposes.

Additionally, the ordinance the Council passed giving Town Clerk Vicky Kleiner oversight of the personnel files violates the Faulkner Act, which is the state law governing municipal governments. Under Phillipsburg’s form of government, the mayor is solely authorized to supervise town employees and personnel issues. Town Council members have no authority to be involved in the affairs of Town employees.

As Mayor of Phillipsburg, it is my duty to protect town employees from these invasions and abuses of their privacy. I am obliged to protect them from any harassment and intimidation that may result from the Council’s illegal actions. I am also gravely concerned that the Council’s actions have exposed our town to legal liability from lawsuits employees may file in response to these violations. As Mayor, it is also my duty to protect the taxpayers of Phillipsburg from the financial burden that may result from these lawsuits.

Our taxpayers are already currently at risk of footing the bill for several lawsuits filed against Phillipsburg by former employees due to this Council’s illegal actions regarding personnel matters.

During Monday’s press conference, Council President Robert Fulper claimed a hand-written note he found in a personnel file was evidence of my involvement in a “payroll scheme” to hire, or give a raise to, a former council person’s spouse. In fact, my office and my staff were being repeatedly and inappropriately contacted by this person regarding this matter. We felt it was prudent to document this inappropriate communication and therefore made a notation of it. Neither my staff nor I responded to these communications. This woman was never interviewed or considered for the position in which she was interested. I did not receive any raises, nor did I want a raise. In fact, my salary was reduced.

This is not the first time since my election in 2016 that my opponents on the Town Council have squandered town resources and wasted the time of our hard-working law enforcement officers pursuing frivolous and unfounded claims against me. To date, none of these baseless claims have been found to have any merit and have been dismissed through the appropriate legal channels.

I want to assure our town employees and Phillipsburg’s taxpayers that protecting them from the illegal actions of the council is of utmost importance. I am pursuing appropriate legal remedies.