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HomeMy WebLinkAbout456 DorranceMr. Bradford Dorrance 334 Elm Avenue Hershey, PA 17033 Re: 85 -128 -C Dear Mr. Dorrance: STATE ETHICS COMMISSION 308 FINANCE BUILDING HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA 17120 ORDER OF THE COMMISSION March 3, 1986 Order No. 456 The State Ethics Commission has received a complaint regarding you and a possible violation of Act 170 of 1978. The Commission has now completed its investigation. The individual allegations, conclusions, and findings on which those conclusions are based are as follows: I. Allegation: That you, an attorney for the Department of Public Welfare, violated Section 3(a) of the Ethics Act which prohibits a public employee or puhlic official's use of office or confidential information gained through that office to obtain financial gain by conducting private law practice using state office space, postage, phone service and time. A. Findings: 1. You had served as an attorney in the Department of Puhlic Welfare until your resignation effective November 7, 1985 and are subject to the requirements of the State Ethics Act. You had served as an attorney in the Department of Public Welfare since approximately 1980. 2. As a private attorney, you represented Francis J. Barnes in an action filed against Mr. Roy C. Cox. You filed a numher of documents in this matter. a. These documents included the address of P.O. Rox 8016, Harrishurq, Pennsylvania, 17105 -8016. h. These documents also included a phone numher (717) 783 -7783. c. One document contained the following: "Bradford Dorrance, Esquire, P.O. Rox 8016, Harrishurq, Pennsylvania, 17105 -8016 and phone numher (717) 783-7772. This phone numher is one of the Department of Puhlic Welfare numhers. Mr. Bradford Oorrance Page 2 March 3, 1986 3. You were employed by the Department of Public Welfare, Office of Fraud Abuse Investigation Recovery, 4th Floor, Commerce Building, P.O. Box 8016, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Your working phone number was (717) 783 -7783, the same number identified on documents filed on behalf of Mr. Barnes. 4. You admit that these documents were typed by your secretary but state that they were typed during her lunch hour. 5. You also admit that you prepared the documents hut state that you prepared them after normal work hours. 6. You admit that the state paid for the postage and stationery was used. 7. You also admit that there were two mailings in which this occurred - late August and September of 1985. 8. You performed the service as a favor and were not paid for the work. B. Discussion: As an attorney serving in the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, you were a public employee as that team is defined in the State Ethics Act. 65 P.S. 6402; Thau, 84 -020A; Maunus, 84 -020B. As such a public employee, your conduct is subject to the State Ethics Act. The Ethics Act provides as follows: Section 3. Restricted activities. (a) No public official or public employee shall use his public office or any confidential information received through his holding public office to obtain financial gain other than compensation provided by law for himself, a memher of his immediate family, or a business with which he is associated. 65 P.S. 403(a). Clearly, within this provision of law, public employees may not use their position in order to obtain any financial gain for themselves, other than the compensation provided by law. Thus, wi thin the above provision, this Commission has previously ruled that a public official or employee may not use the personnel , facilities, equipment or other materials of their public employer to advance their private enterprises. See Nelson, 85 -009; Cessar, 82 -002. In the current situation, it is a clear that you in fact didd utilize the facilities of the Pennsylvania Department of I including the equipment, the materials, and the postage in order to complete legal work on behalf of a fellow employee. Additionally, the office address and telephone numbers are employed as a contact point for this matter. See Street, 81 -005. While the Commission has found no evidence that you were being compensated as an attorney for this matter, there is no douht that you did obtain a financial gain through the utilization of the Department of Public Welfare's facilities Mr. Bradford Dorrance Page 3 March 3, 1Q86 in this matter. This is so in that in order to process this matter, even though you may have agreed to provide such service for free, you as a private attorney, would have had to incur expenditures for materials, postage, and secretarial labor in order to complete your work. Thus, the fact that you were able to process and complete this matter without any personal expenditures was a result of the fact that you used the materials, facilities, and equipment of the Department of Public Welfare. Thus, you realized financial gain when you were not required to make the expenditures required to process this matter. We, thus, believe that you have violated Section 3(a) of the State Ethics Act. As clearly set forth in Section 1 of the State Ethics Act, public office is a public trust and any effort to realize personal financial gain through public office is a violation of that trust. As an attorney, you above all, should have been more sensitive to the use of the Commonwealth's facilities as part of a private endeavor. You violated the State Ethics Act as well as the public trust. Our investigation has not revealed any similar types of activity other than this particular incident. Additionally, we note that you have terminated your employment with the Pennsylvania Department of Public VIelfare and are now in private practice. Because of these factors, we will take no further action in this matter. C. Conclusion: You violated Section 3(a) of the State Ethics Act when you utilized the equipment, facilities, materials and postage of the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare in order to prepare and file a private civil court action. Because of the factors set forth above, we will, howeve =r, take no further action in this matter. Our files in this case will remain confidential in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Ethics Act, 65 P.S. 408(a). However, this Order is final and will be made available as a public document 15 days after setvrte (defined as mailing) unless you file documentation with the Commission w!r ch justifies reconsideration and /or challenges pertinent factual indings. See 51 Pa. Code 2.38. During this 15 -day period, tic one, including the Respondent unless he waives his right to challenge this Order, may violate this confidentiality by releasing, discussing or circulating this Order Any person who violates the confidentiality of a Commission proceeding is guilty of a misdemeanor and shal 1 he fined not more than S1 ,000 or imprisoned for not more than one year or both, see 65 P.S. 409(e). By the Commission, Her ert ' . Conner Chairman