Opinion  EC-COI-79-32

Date:	03/01/1979
Organization:	State Ethics Commission

A former state employee may work under a contract that was negotiated while he still held his prior position, as long as he had no role in planning, preparing or negotiating the contract.

Discussion

You were employed by a state agency (ABC) as an employee. At present you are working as an employee at the Clinic paid under a contract negotiated by ABC with the clinic. You ask whether the state conflict of interest law, Chapter 268A, prohibits you from working for the clinic under that contract which was negotiated while you were still a ABC employee.

You are a former "state employee" as that term is defined in General Laws Chapter 268A § 1(q). § 5(a) prohibits you from receiving compensation from anyone other than the Commonwealth or a state agency in connection with any particular matter in which the Commonwealth or a state agency is a party and in which you participated as a state employee. The contract between the clinic and ABC is clearly a "particular matter" as that term is defined in
§ 1(k). You specifically state, however, that you had no role in the planning, preparation, or negotiation of the contract.

The Commission has decided that it will continue to follow, for the near future, the interpretations and opinions of the Attorney General issued prior to November 1, 1978, the effective date of the Commission's jurisdiction over Chapter 268A. The Attorney General has previously ruled in a similar case that there would be no conflict of interest under the facts as you have stated them. See Attorney General Conflict Opinion No. 733.

 

End Of Decision