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Request for an advisory opinion regarding whether Doris Gayle may be hired as a clerical employee with the Tangipahoa Parish Health Unit when her husband, Thomas Fagan (a State employee), is the manager in the office in which she would be hired. |
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Mr. Fagan is employed by the Department of Health and Hospitals as a Sanitarian. The prospective employee, Ms. Gayle, would be an employee of Tangipahoa Parish.
Although Mr. Fagan will be employed by the State and his wife by the Parish, the job duties of Mr. Fagan state that Mr. Fagan will be responsible for: formulating and assigning duties and responsibilities of the staff; evaluating work performed by the staff through review of daily assignments; counseling members of the staff on quality of work performed; preparing annual personnel performance evaluations for directly supervised staff; approving and denying applications for leave of employees; formulating standard office policy and procedures; interviewing and hiring new Sanitarians; authorizing and approving travel expenses claim form documents for personnel authorized to travel on a monthly basis; performing disciplinary actions in the form of verbal and written reprimands; consulting with the Regional Administrator on administrative matters; preparing environmental health annual budget for use of parish mileage money; and serving a Liaison to the Tangipahoa Parish Government regarding the functioning of, but not limited to, the maintenance, supplies and overseeing of all Parish employees assigned to the Health Units.
According to the advisory opinion request, if the applicant were hired she would be supervised by Verda Mitchell, another state level clerical employee. Mr. Fagan is assigned to the Sanitarian Department, and will directly supervise five employees, while Ms. Mitchell will supervise ten employees in the clerical department. Mr. Fagan's supervisor is David Thomas and Ms. Mitchell's supervisor is Jennifer Fagan (Mr. Fagan's sister-in-law). Despite that Mr. Fagan will not be his wife's direct supervisor, as the Liaison to the Tangipahoa Parish Government, Mr. Fagan is responsible for the overseeing of all parish employees assigned to the health units. As such, he would have supervisory responsibility over all parish employees, including his wife. According to the opinion request, the supervisory responsibility would include personnel decisions such as hiring, evaluation, merit increases, promotions, and disciplinary action
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Section 1119 of the Code prohibits an immediate family member of an agency head from being employed in the public servant's agency.
Section 1112B(1) of the Code states that no public servant, except as provide in R.S. 42:1120., shall participate in a transaction involving the governmental entity in which any member of his immediate family has a substantial economic interest.
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Adopt proposed advisory opinion
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| Assigned Attorney: |
Brent Durham |
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