Opinion  EC-COI-81-174

Date:	12/08/1981
Organization:	State Ethics Commission

A special state employee of a State College is not prohibited from having, in addition, a financial interest in a contract with another state agency because, as a special state employee of the State College, the employee neither participates in nor has official responsibility for any activities of the other state agency. Section 7 will also require the special state employee to file with the Ethics Commission a disclosure of the financial interest in the contract.

Facts

You are an associate professor within the Psychology Department at ABC State College (ABC). You also have a part-time private practice in clinical psychology. The DEF Regional Office of the Department of XYZ (XYZ) has recently offered to you a consultant contract to work with adult clients in a group home. Under the proposed arrangement, your services would be paid out of XYZ funds.

Question

You wish to know whether the conflict of interest law, G.L. c. 268A, permits you to accept this consultant contract.

Answer

The Commission advises you that it does.

Discussion

       In rendering this opinion, the Commission has relied upon the facts as you have stated them and has not made any independent investigation of those facts. In your present position at ABC you are required to teach up to twelve hours weekly and also to maintain at least three office hours[1]; you also spend additional on-campus hours counseling students. You state that you may engage in paid outside activities during the school day as long as your activities do not take you away from your responsibilities. In this regard, your contract provides that you have "the right to determine the amount and character of work and other activities (you pursue] outside the College provided such work and other activities do not interfere with the discharge of [your] responsibilities ..."[2] Therefore, since you are not an elected official and you occupy a position which, by the terms of your contract, permits personal or private employment during normal working hours, you are a "special state employee" as defined in s.1(o)(2)(a) of G.L. c. 268A. See, EC-COI-81-144; 81-64.[3]

       Section 7 of the conflict statute prohibits a state employee from knowingly having a financial interest in a contract made by a state agency. The consultant arrangement at issue would be a contract within the meaning of s.7 with a state agency, XYZ and your compensation would be a financial interest. However, the third paragraph of s.7 states that this provision does not apply to a special state employee who does not participate in or have official responsibility for any of the activities of the contracting agency and who files a statement with the Commission making full disclosure. As an associate professor at ABC State College, you do not play any role in the activities of xyz, the contracting agency. Therefore, upon your filing of the required disclosure with the Commission after receipt of this opinion, you will qualify for the exemption in s.7 and you will not be prohibited from accepting the grant.

End Of Decision  

[1] Agreement between the Board of Trustees of State Colleges and the Massachusetts Teachers Association/NEA, Article XII, pp. 202 & 205.

[2] Agreement ... Article VIII, p. 96.

[3] The Commission's conclusion in this opinion is based solely on the unique facts of your case, including, but not limited to, the specific terms of your contract, and is applicable only to you. The Commission reserves its right to review the applicability of special state employee status to other faculty members of ABC State College, and other state colleges and universities, based on their individual circumstances.