I'm forwarding a link to the Society of American Archivists (SAA) statement
on the revelations about former Archivist Allen Weinstein. (Thanks for your
patience as I look at SAA issues in depth in the records and news context
on this Listserv.)  I'm placing this in the context of our obligations to
handle sensitive information in records properly.  I use news reporting in
2012-2014 to illustrate the need to be aware when reading news links (here
on recmgmt-L or elsewhere) that they may be on incomplete information, at
best.  Those of you who have human resources responsibilities as workplace
managers as well as mission support assignments as records managers
(especially in federal, state or local employment) will recognize some of
the related obligations.  Here's a message I just shared on SAA's Records
Management Section Listserv:

Thanks for sharing a link to the SAA statement
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www2.archivists.org_statements_saa-2Dstatement-2Don-2Dsexual-2Dassault-2Dand-2Dharassment&d=DwIFaQ&c=pZJPUDQ3SB9JplYbifm4nt2lEVG5pWx2KikqINpWlZM&r=b5NZPQUb9_r2rQ3Zd74ATT3aSs9yKyRnJLOhqJvd7fE&m=YZeXGCA_bIywgrnEjeA_jhSYpLWnwgZ1ZFC_vcyB07s&s=ro5gNm7ASO7LfNpBF6ieloPKzLBVmHgO4xGhWbdI9TY&e=>
on sexual assault and harassment. . . I am glad to see SAA note the courage
of the primary victim in the 2007 Allen Weinstein case investigation by the
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Inspector General in
2008.  There's an important contextual note regarding workplace protection
from harassment related to later allegations about the NARA Inspector
General, Paul Brachfeld, whose office handled the Weinstein investigation
in 2008.  If you need workplace protection, consider the importance of tone
at the top and access to sensitive records (or not), as you read about what
later happened at NARA during 2012-2014.

I knew generally from several middle management levels friends at NARA
around the time that Weinstein resigned at the end of the Bush
administration that there had been an investigation of his actions with
certain employees and that he resigned as a result of that investigation.
(I have no reason to believe the 2008 investigation was not carried out
properly.) I learned the name [public as of this week] of the primary
victim (Maryellen Trautman), whom I know, but not well, within the last
couple of years from a friend, a NARA retiree, with whom she had shared
[her] story.

As we know as records managers and archivists, Inspector General records
are close held.  NARA's Office of Government Information Services has a
link which explains the First Party and Third Party issues in the Privacy
Act, the matter of consent of named individuals in Privacy Act covered
materials, including right to sue, and FOIA.  https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__foia.blogs&d=DwIFaQ&c=pZJPUDQ3SB9JplYbifm4nt2lEVG5pWx2KikqINpWlZM&r=b5NZPQUb9_r2rQ3Zd74ATT3aSs9yKyRnJLOhqJvd7fE&m=YZeXGCA_bIywgrnEjeA_jhSYpLWnwgZ1ZFC_vcyB07s&s=0TbddpDuxmqlyhFKYm8fLK7N9wkwzJMDCsRkLWBTOls&e=.
archives.gov/2012/10/26/reconciling-foia-and-the-privacy-act/  (shortened
link https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__bit.ly_2G0YHdG&d=DwIFaQ&c=pZJPUDQ3SB9JplYbifm4nt2lEVG5pWx2KikqINpWlZM&r=b5NZPQUb9_r2rQ3Zd74ATT3aSs9yKyRnJLOhqJvd7fE&m=YZeXGCA_bIywgrnEjeA_jhSYpLWnwgZ1ZFC_vcyB07s&s=PwY2V2_u7afqYVcs6ETMwTMy0Bho6ffmM73LiOi2icI&e= ).  A more complicated issue (one that should be
straightforward but always isn't), is choosing as an employee (not just as
an archivist but anywhere) to approach a workplace Inspector General.

Then Archivist John Carlin, Weinstein's predecessor, named Paul Brachfeld
NARA Inspector General in 1999.  Weinstein's successor, David S. Ferriero,
placed Brachfeld on administrative leave in September 2012, after learning
of harassment allegations against Brachfeld.  In my view, David did the
right thing, quickly removing the Inspector General from the workplace, as
the allegations were investigated.  I thought about that when I read
Ferriero's February 6, 2018 blog post, in which he said (using phrasing
that is very characteristic of him, I would add) of Weinstein as Archivist,
"That my predecessor could have used this office to mistreat members of the
National Archives family leaves me angry, and shaped much of the agency’s
ensuing approach to harassment."

One of the problems with Brachfeld's swift removal from the workplace in
2012 pending investigation is that the case dragged on for two years, with
most news reporting reflecting the suspended Inspector General's side of
the story, not that of other National Archives officials involved in the
case.  During that time, I read a number of news reports in links shared on
the old Archives & Archivists Listserv and on Twitter, mostly based on
input from Brachfeld or his allies.  Yet I was unable to share what I knew
about the case, details I learned in September 2012 not from anyone at
NARA, but from a legislative branch employee familiar with the alleged
incident with Brachfeld and a female employee that led Ferriero to quickly
remove Brachfeld from the workplace through administrative action in 2012.


So for two years, I was unable to state on the A&A List that there was more
to the story than the news stories tilted towards supporting Brachfeld
suggested and that I believed Ferriero acted honorably, with the entire
agency in mind, in acting swiftly. That this was the case became clear
later, when the Inspector General whom Carlin had appointed in 1999 and
Ferriero placed on administrative leave finally resigned in 2014 after
independent investigators reported
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.washingtonpost.com_news_federal-2Deye_wp_2014_08_04_embattled-2Dnational-2Darchives-2Dig-2Dto-2Dretire-2Dafter-2Dprobe-2Dfinds-2Dmisconduct_-3Futm-5Fterm-3D.782a1f224e82&d=DwIFaQ&c=pZJPUDQ3SB9JplYbifm4nt2lEVG5pWx2KikqINpWlZM&r=b5NZPQUb9_r2rQ3Zd74ATT3aSs9yKyRnJLOhqJvd7fE&m=YZeXGCA_bIywgrnEjeA_jhSYpLWnwgZ1ZFC_vcyB07s&s=Bwl7UIDZekRCCA0gmaPI1zGBPSo1zDi2eRUj8kF8zeI&e=>
 on allegations that NARA IG Brachfeld had:


"created a locker-room environment in his office, with sexually suggestive
and racially offensive comments.  The Council of the Inspectors General on
Integrity and Efficiency concluded that the comments constitute
administrative misconduct 'and undermine the integrity reasonably expected
of an IG.' . . . The integrity committee said it was 'particularly
disturbed by the comments Brachfeld made concerning interracial marriage,
comments concerning pregnant women, and comments indicating that [he] was
interested in dating NARA employees or contractors,' the report said."

An important reminder to approach shared news links about sensitive
personnel issues, not just at NARA but anywhere, with caution due to
awareness that they may not reflect the views of all parties. (This is what
I mean by information asymmetry.)   The RM and archives angle for us being
that many of us handle sensitive information, data, and records in our jobs
during our careers, but fulfill our obligations to handle it properly and
not disclose records except as required by law and regulations.

And that whether employees feel comfortable approaching an Inspector
General depends on perceptions of him or her within the organization. . . .
I was very relieved when Ferriero acted swiftly to remove Brachfeld from
the workplace in 2012 and that Brachfeld resigned in 2014.   I would not
hesitate to turn to the present NARA Inspector General, an African-American
official with an excellent record in Federal service, James E. Springs
(click on bio at https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.archives.gov_about_organization_senior-2Dstaff&d=DwIFaQ&c=pZJPUDQ3SB9JplYbifm4nt2lEVG5pWx2KikqINpWlZM&r=b5NZPQUb9_r2rQ3Zd74ATT3aSs9yKyRnJLOhqJvd7fE&m=YZeXGCA_bIywgrnEjeA_jhSYpLWnwgZ1ZFC_vcyB07s&s=ymLYxsd34gJ89nC7HxeVvd-Po91-nUwVlHbsUMqdzW4&e= ),
or any members of his team, on any workplace issues of concern.

The tone at the top of an organization matters greatly.

Maarja
[log in to unmask]
Washington, DC
@ArchivesMaarja
Blog:  Archival Explorations https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__archivalexplorations.wordpress.com_&d=DwIFaQ&c=pZJPUDQ3SB9JplYbifm4nt2lEVG5pWx2KikqINpWlZM&r=b5NZPQUb9_r2rQ3Zd74ATT3aSs9yKyRnJLOhqJvd7fE&m=YZeXGCA_bIywgrnEjeA_jhSYpLWnwgZ1ZFC_vcyB07s&s=l9ntUIz7a4UQHxmWWC6d1_ZZQtPsD9H24pn3IglCqMk&e=

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