| Advisory opinion request from Michele Steib, an employee of the Port of New Orleans, regarding her outside employment and post-employment restrictions. |
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Michele Steib is employed as an IT Engineer with the Port of New Orleans ("Port NOLA"), which is a political subdivision of the State. Ms. Steib works under the supervision of Richard Mancuso, the Port's Director of IT. Her duties for the Port include designing and engineering highly complex technical system solutions related to networks, databases, applications, etc., evaluating and analyzing requests for highly complex technical system enhancements or development projects; providing recommendations on project priorities to agency management; planning maintenance activities to ensure seamless integration across all components; meeting with users, vendors, and agency management to determine needs, outline parameters, and evaluate results; planning maintenance activities to ensure seamless integration across all components; providing an expert understanding of the technical system landscape to ensure that system development activities are successful; and responding to highly complex technical system troubleshooting requests. Ms. Steib anticipates retiring from her employment with the Port on October 31, 2026.
Ms. Steib also operates an independent IT consulting business in which she contracts to provide IT computing, network, and software support services through her company, MSITT, LLC. She asks whether her company is permitted to enter into a private IT services contract with Spears Global, a company that has a site control property lease agreement with the Port, while she is employed with the Port and following her retirement from employment with the Port.
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La. R.S. 42:1111C(2)(d) provides that no public servant and no legal entity in which the public servant exercises control or owns an interest in excess of twenty-five percent, shall receive any thing of economic value for or in consideration of services rendered, or to be rendered, to or for any person during his public service unless such services are: (d) Neither performed for nor compensated by any person or from any officer, director, agent, or employee of such person, if such public servant knows or reasonably should know that such person has or is seeking to obtain contractual or other business or financial relationships with the public servant's agency; conducts operations or activities which are regulated by the public employee's agency; or has substantial economic interests which may be substantially affected by the performance or nonperformance of the public employee's official duty.
La. R.S. 42:1121B(1) provides that no former public employee shall, for a period of two years following the termination of his public employment, assist another person, for compensation, in a transaction, or in an appearance in connection with a transaction in which such former public employee participated at any time during his public employment and involving the governmental entity by which he was formerly employed, or for a period of two years following termination of his public employment, render, any service which such former public employee had rendered to the agency during the term of his public employment on a contractual basis, regardless of the parties to the contract, to, for, or on behalf of the agency with which he was formerly employed.
La. R.S. 42:1121C provides that no legal entity in which a former public servant is an officer, director, trustee, partner, or employee shall, for a period of two years following the termination of his public service, assist another person, for compensation, in a transaction, or in an appearance in connection with a transaction in which such public servant at any time participated during his public service and involving the agency by which he was formerly employed or in which he formerly held office.
La. R.S. 42:1102(2)(a)(vi) defines "agency" for public servants of political subdivisions to mean the agency in which the public servant serves.
La. R.S. 42:1102(16) defines "person" to mean an individual or legal entity other than a governmental entity, or an agency thereof.
La. R.S. 42:1102(18)(a) defines "public employee" to mean anyone, whether compensated or not, who is: (i) An administrative officer or official of a governmental entity who is not filling an elective office. (ii) Appointed by any elected official when acting in an official capacity, and the appointment is to a post or position wherein the appointee is to serve the governmental entity or an agency thereof, either as a member of an agency, or as an employee thereof. (iii) Engaged in the performance of a governmental function. (iv) Under the supervision or authority of an elected official or another employee of the governmental entity.
La. R.S. 42:1102(19) defines "public servant" to mean a public employee or an elected official.
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Adopt the proposed advisory opinion.
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| Assigned Attorney: |
Jessica Meiners |
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