Confidentiality and Its Limits

All communication with the Ethics office assumes confidentiality on the part of and for the protection of all parties. Those who communicate concerns to the Ethics Office will be asked for permission before their identities will be shared with Intake Committee members or other relevant parties.

Ethics Office personnel and Intake Committee members will protect the confidentiality of those who bring matters to the Ethics Officer. However, if an expression of concern, is shared outside of the Ethics Office process by those who communicated the matter, Ethics Office personnel and Intake Committee members are no longer bound to confidentiality in regards to the audience with whom the communication was shared.

All parties involved with investigation of concerns, are expected to maintain confidentiality. Employees who are approached in the process of investigation may not discuss the matter outside of that process. Breaches of confidentiality may result in disciplinary action. Sharing allegations outside of the Ethics Office process may be the cause for an ethics complaint or may be subject to a legal claim of defamation. In addition, Ethics Office personnel will not maintain confidentiality if the Ethics Officer believes that any communication constitutes a threat to any individual, organization, or to the public.

Once an allegation of non-compliance becomes a matter of formal investigation by the Inquiry & Review Committee, the identity of the complainant may be shared with the respondent if the complainant’s identity is material to the respondent’s ability to address the allegation of non-compliance. In addition, documentation required for formal processing may be subject to public records requests.

MWD Records Retention Policy