Advisory Opinion No. 98-154

Re: Carol A. Germani

QUESTION PRESENTED

The petitioner, a former employee of the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation (RIHMFC), a state employee position, requests an advisory opinion as to whether she may perform work for her private employer on a contract that employer has with RIHMFC given that she was not involved in the approval of the contract while at RIHMFC and that she would not be appearing before her former employer, RIHMFC, as part of her employment duties.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the petitioner, a former employee of the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation (RIHMFC), a state employee position, may perform work for her private employer on a contract that employer has with RIHMFC given that she was not involved in the approval of the contract while at RIHMFC and that she would not be appearing before her former employer, RIHMFC, as part of her employment duties. The petitioner, as a former state employee, is not subject to the revolving door provisions of the Code of Ethics. Those provisions apply to former members of the General Assembly, senior members of the executive branch, and appointed state officials. The revolving door provisions do not affect the post-employment activities of state or municipal employees.

The provisions of R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(e) also are not applicable here. The petitioner’s new employer already has received a contract award from RIHMFC. Therefore, the agency has no further discretionary responsibilities with respect to that contract. Merely providing services to fulfill a contract that was awarded without any involvement by the petitioner does not implicate the restrictions set out in section 5(e).

Code Citations:

36-14-5(e)

Related Advisory Opinions:

98-92

98-11

97-25

97-2

Keywords:

Post employment

Revolving door

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