By Mary Drier
Staff Writer
CARO — More legal action could come from the Dec. 5, 2008, security breach of Social Security Numbers and banking information of employees at the Tuscola County Road Commission.
Former road commission employee Charles Dennis bought the issue of the security breach of his and over 30 other employees information up at a December 2013 meeting of the road commission board.
Since the news article ran in the Jan. 4, edition of the Tuscola County Advertiser, employees and/or former employees of the road commission contacted the newspaper to say they are exploring legal recourse like employees did over the matter.
Denise Hutchinson and Tim Hutchinson took legal action against Scott Raymer; and records also show, counter action taken against Denise Hutchinson and Tim Hutchinson by Scott Raymer.
During the legal process in Tuscola County District Court: Denise Hutchinson, who is responsible for the human resource functions at the road commission, and Tim Hutchinson, who is an hourly employee at the road commission, won a judgement against Scott Raymer, who is the shop foreman.
Court records filed by the Hutchinsons against Raymer claim he: publicly displayed a document with names, Social Security Numbers, Credit Union account numbers, and the amount to be deposited on clear glass of the north employee door which is a violatation of the Social Security Number Privacy Act.
Raymer’s counter action contends Denise Hutchinson is at fault for: allegedly leaving payroll documents out for road commission employee Dennis Sattelberg to see, take photos of, post on the window, and complain about it to Superintendent – Manager Jay Tuckey
According to Raymer’s counter claim, he later went into the office after hearing Sattelberg’s complaint, saw the payroll information, taped it on the window, “to prove a point.”
While the incident happened in 2008, court records show the case was still active on June 27, 2013, when evaluated by Attorneys Jim Schmidt, Greg Bringard, Jennie McGavin for arbitration.
On July 2, 2013, a settlement was reached with a judgement of $2,500 awarded to the Hutcinsons.
On Sept. 6, 2013, District Judge Kim Glaspie issued an order of dismissal for all parties, including – Raymer’s counter claim.
Dennis’ question of why it took so long for him and 32 other employees to find out their financial information was breached, and that “criminal charges should be pursed because the Social Security Number Privacy Act was broken” wasn’t directly answered.
Road commission board Chair Jack Laurie stated several times, that the matter “was an old issue,” and “no damage was done.”
According to Laurie, discipline was taken, new internal procedures adopted as well as office procedures with nothing left on desks.
However, posted comments on the Advertiser’s website, www.tuscolatoday.com, at the bottom of the article that ran, Jan. 4, seem to differ.
Mary Drier is a staff writer for the Tuscola County Advertiser. She can be reached at drier@tcadvertiser.com.