| Date: | 12/08/1981 |
|---|---|
| Organization: | State Ethics Commission |
A full-time Department of Mental Health employee assigned to a DMH vendor may not accept paid weekend employment with another DMH vendor providing services under a DMH contract. Because the contract between DMH and the vendor is a particular matter in which the Commonwealth has a direct and substantial interest, G.L. c. 268A, § 4 prohibits the employee from receiving compensation from that vendor.
You are a full-time Mental Health Assistant I with the Department of Mental Health (DMH) and in that capacity you are assigned to work at (name), a DMH vendor.
You ask whether the conflict of interest law, M.G.L.c. 268A, permits you to work on weekends for another DMH vendor, ABC.
The Commission concludes that it does not.
As a full-time employee of DMH, you are a "state employee" as that term is defined in the conflict of interest law c. 268A, s.1(q). Section 4(a) of the law states:
No state employee shall otherwise than as provided by law for the proper discharge of official duties, directly or indirectly receive or request compensation from anyone other than the commonwealth or a state agency, in relation to any particular matter [1] in which the commonwealth or a state agency is a party or has a direct and substantial interest.
The other agency at which you work, ABC is under contract with DMH to perform certain residential services for DMH clients; the services which you perform at ABC are those which are called for in the DMH contract. As noted below, the contract in question is a particular matter, and a state agency, DMH, is a party to that contract. Thus, s.4 prohibits you from receiving any compensation from ABC in relation to that contract, and you must
End Of Decision
