On Brookline

Hon. Martha Coakley, Attorney General for the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
One Ashburton Place
Boston, MA 02108

Dear General Coakley:

Congratulations on your recent election to this great office. Your performance over the years as District Attorney for Middlesex County suggests that you will serve the Commonwealth well as its chief legal officer, continuing the long tradition of your predecessors.

I write to you as a resident of Brookline and a lifetime resident of Massachusetts regarding G.L. Chapter 149, Section 185, better known as the Whistleblower statute, which became effective in 1993. Yet it appears that very few of the governmental unit employees in Massachusetts seem to have had the benefit of clause (g) of Section 185 regarding their rights and obligations under the Whistleblower statute.

The Office of the Attorney General (“OAG”) has the responsibility for the enforcement of Chapter 149 and thus its Section 185. However, it seems that OAG has done very little about the Whistleblower statute, including its enforcement. The only penalty under Chapter 149 for a governmental unit employer failure to comply with clause (g) of Section 185 is a fine not to exceed $500.00. I am not aware if in the more than 13 years the Whistleblower statute has been in effect the OAG has taken any steps against governmental unit employers for failure to comply. It appears that very few governmental unit employers have taken steps to comply with clause (g) of Section 185.

I understand that there are well over 300,000 governmental employees who should be entitled to be informed of their rights and obligations under the Whistleblower statute. It is distinctly possible that the failures of governmental unit employers to comply with clause (g) of Section 185 may have deprived their employees of valuable rights under the Whistleblower statute.

The Town of Brookline did not adopt a policy pursuant to the Whistleblower statute until this past December. I have chronicled Brookline’s inaction and action in Parts I through V of my Guest Commentaries on Jim Conley’s website available at www.onbrookline.com, which I urge you to read, as reference is also made to the OAG’s responsibilities. I do not believe that Brookline’s Anti-Retaliation Policy adopted last December comports with the letter and spirit of Section 185 for he reasons spelled out in these Guest Commentaries.

It should be relatively easy for the OAG to implement its enforcement responsibilities under the Whistleblower statute by adopting regulations and/or guidelines to assist and encourage all governmental unit employers at the state, county and municipal levels with respect to their compliance with the Whistleblower statute. Failure to do so would continue to deprive more than 300,000 state and local employees of their basic rights.

While a major goal of the Whistleblower statute is to directly provide anit-retaliation and other benefits to these governmental employees, the entire population of Massachusetts, which exceeds 6,900,000, may indirectly benefit from compliance with the Whistleblower statute.

You have been in office for less than three months and cannot be blamed for the inaction of the OAG over the past 13 plus years. But is there any excuse for not promptly addressing this inaction? Governmental employees deserve better; and so do all residents of the Commonwealth.

Respectfully submitted,

Arshag A. Mazmanian

Copies to:

Brookline Board of Selectmen
Brookline School Committee
Brookline Town Administrator
Brookline Town Counsel
Brookline Town Meeting Members