By Mary Drier
Staff Writer
CARO — A breach of personal information at the Tuscola County Road Commission in 2008 still riles Mike Dennis, and he told the road commission board so.
“Not only was my Social Security Number and all my banking information displayed for anyone to see but so were several other employes here,” said Dennis. “It’s wrong. It’s illegal!”
The matter of several employees’ Social Security Numbers and banking information being seen by unauthorized person and publicly posted was taken before Tuscola County District Court for action; and in doing so, counter action was also taken.
There is a lot of finger pointing involved. Court documents show Denise Hutchinson and Tim Hutchinson as plaintiffs against defendant Scott Raymer; and records also, show counter action taken against Denise Hutchinson and Tim Hutchinson as defendants with Scott Raymer as plaintiff.
“There were 33 names exposed, including mine,” said Dennis as he asked the road commission board why he and others were not informed of the breach in a timely fashion. “It was a legal and moral issue. We didn’t know anything about it until much later.”
“It’s an old issue. It’s been taken care of years ago. Mike (Tuckey) brought it to our attention and we got legal direction as we didn’t want to put taxpayers at risk,” said road commission Chair Jack Laurie.
While Laurie was right that the matter happened in 2008, it was still and active case before in the court in July 2013.
“No damage was done. No one’s information was exposed or taken down. It wasn’t visible to the public,” said Laurie. “As for court action, we have no knowledge and no part in it… nor should we.”
Dennis again questioned why it took so long notify employees of the issue.
“Nothing was compromised. Just management and staff are the only ones who saw it (copy of personal financial information). We took disciplinary action. it’s been handled. It’s done. Over. An old issue,” said Road Commission Director of Finance Mike Tuckey. “I feel the information was not compromised.
“We drew a line in the sand. It won’t be crossed; and yes, they still work here.”
According to Laurie, disciplinary action has been taken, new internal procedures adopted as well as office procedures with nothing left on desks for anyone to see.
“It’s been addressed,” stated Laurie.
Court documents explain the particulars of the violations: “That in the morning hours of Dec. 5, 2008, you (Raymer) publicly displayed a document exhibiting my name, full Social Security Number, Credit Union account number, and the amount to be deposited in the Credit Union at the Tuscola County Road Commission office… On the glass of the north employee door facing north – to the outside- and/or south wall of the office,” explained documents filed by Denise and by Tim Hutchinson.
The court record notes that a copy of the document in question was publicly displayed is not provided for documentation in the court record “as doing so would violate the Social Security Number Privacy Act.”
“If litigation becomes necessary, a copy of the document actually publicly displayed by you can be provided under court order,” said Exhibit A and Exhibit B in the record dated Nov. 9, 2012, respectively by Denise and Tim Hutchinson. “You have admitted this violation, claiming that you did so ‘to prove a point.’ Upon information and belief, your admissions were made to, inter alia to Mike Tuckey and Michele Zawerucha.
Inter alia is Latin for “among other things.”
Those mentioned in the court records are: Denise Hutchinson, who is responsible for the human resource functions at the road commission. Tim Hutchinson, who is an hourly employee at the road commission. Scott Raymer, who is the shop foreman. Mike Tuckey, who is the road commission’s director of finance, and Michele Zawerucha, who is the road commission’s highway engineer.
The following is a condensed explanation from court documents of the incident that the Hutchinsons claim against Raymer: On March 19, 2008, Denise Hutchinson observed Scott Raymer “snooping through payroll checks in the human resource area,” a location were as shop foreman he has no business accessing. Corrective action was taken to prevent this activity from taking place again.
Hutchinson’s duties include payroll, preparing checks and making deposits on behalf of employees which include financial institution account numbers.
Raymer’s day begins before Denise Hutchinson’s work day.
Zawerucha was the one who discovered the posting of employee information on the clear glass door facing towards the parking lot that’s “visible to the public, including any Tuscola County Road Commission employee. She took down the document and give it to Tuckey.
“It turns out that Scott Raymer had entered the human resources work area that morning, removed the document from Denise Hutchinson’s printer, showed it to other employees, and then posted in on the exterior door, facing outward,” said the court document noting Raymer was not identified in the matter until about April 12, 2012, “when, at the instance of Denise Hutchinson, the Tuscola County Road Commission adopted a Social Security Number Privacy Policy.
“As a precondition of instituting this action,” the Hutchinsons sent Raymer a demand 60 days before filing the action against him regarding the Social Security Number Privacy Act, and asking for a $1,000 judgement for each of them.
At that juncture, a counter claim was filed. Ramyer’s counter action claimed Denise Hutchinson had publicly displayed all digits of the defendant’s Social Security Number, “multiple times from November 2011 – December 2011.” Those issues were raised in Exhibit C in Raymer’s counter claim on May 20, 2013, along with his request for judgement of $1,000.
Raymer’s counter action claims he wasn’t the one at fault.
The following is a condensed explanation from court documents of the incident that by Raymer: Denise Hutchinson left payroll forms “face up on her desk multiple times.” These forms were not kept in a desk drawer, or kept a folder, or a vault.
“It was on her desk, so noticeable that Dennis Sattelberg, another employee at the Tuscola County Road Commission, saw a form with his personal, confidential and sensitive information at least twice on her desk. Mr. Sattleberg even took pictures of his document,” states court records. “He then showed his Superintendent – Manager Jay Tuckey, the pictures on Ms. Hutchinson’s desk, upset that this information was being left out.”
The record goes on to note that Raymer heard Sattelberg’s complaint about his personal, confidential information being exposed; and when he went to turn in time cards on Dec. 4, 2008, he came across his personal and banking information sitting in Denise Hutchinson’s printer.
“He did not notice his or anyone else’s Social Security Number. So without truly studying this form in-depth, he grabbed the form, and taped it on the window, facing inside the office, not outside. To the best of his knowledge, the first employee that came in the office was Cindy Steward, who retrieved the form from the window and took it down,” said the record noting that to the best of Raymer’s knowledge, the form was not retained by any supervisor or manager.
“However, four years later in 2012, Denise Hutchinson produced the form she ‘claimed’ to be the one that was taped on the window by Scott Raymer,” and “no one to verify if this was in fact the form that Scott Raymer taped on the window.
“When Denise Hutchinson produced this form in 2012, there was not a copy retained by anyone else to verify its authenticity.”
Raymer says he and “all the other employees of the Tuscola County Road Commission” are the victims” of an employee who is seemingly “lackadaisical, callous”… “Denise Hutchinson is the one who has violated the Social Security Privacy Act.”
Despite, Laurie’s and Tuckey’s statements that the matter was an old issue, that discipline had been taken, and office procedures changed, Dennis countered he was not satisfied and that “criminal charges should be pursed because the Social Security Number Privacy Act was broken.”
“We aren’t going to do that. We’re not going to proceed with legal action,” Laurie stated noting again the matter happened years ago.
On Sept. 6, 2013, District Judge Kim Glaspie issued an order of dismissal for all parties involved.
Mary Drier is a staff writer for the Tuscola County Advertiser. She can be reached at drier@tcadvertiser.com.