Attorney for Broad + Liberty Thomas Breth said in the hearing that emails from former employees are kept between three and eight years, while the emails in question dated back just two years.
A recent hearing in the Commonwealth Court regarding a case against Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s administration revealed that emails at the center of the case were reportedly deleted despite document retention requirements.
According to the Center Square, which obtained a court transcript of the hearing, an attorney representing Shapiro’s office said that internal emails sent and received over an eight-day period were deleted. Those emails were sent to or sent out from a deputy aide in the Legislative Affairs office who reported inappropriate behavior.
Thomas Howell, the administration’s attorney, said during the February 12 hearing, "That, frankly, should not be surprising that an account of a departed employee would be disposed of in accordance with the records retention schedules. Those retention schedules are public, and they establish that, you know, your general emails are deleted as soon as they’re no longer necessary."
Attorney for Broad + Liberty Thomas Breth said in the hearing that emails from former employees are kept between three and eight years, while the emails in question dated back just two years.
The complaint dates back to 2023, when Broad + Liberty filed a public records request for the email as well as other internal documents dated between March 2 and March 10, 2023. This was the last week that an employee who made sexual harassment claims against then-Secretary of Legislative Affairs Mike Vereb worked in the office.
The complaint alleged that Vereb retaliated against the aide after they reported inappropriate comments made by Vereb in February of that year. Vereb resigned in September of that year just before a $295,000 settlement was made public.
One of the attorneys representing the reporter who sought the communications told the outlet that the "stunning" admission in court that the emails had been deleted have led to a request for sanctions against Shapiro’s administration for violating state laws on record retention.
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