Public employees alerted to possible release of private information

Feb. 25, 2016 – Letters were sent this week to more than 650 current and former employees of several Oak Park taxing bodies notifying them that personal information was taken by a former Village employee who has since been terminated.

Click here to view the letter

While no intent to misuse the information has been established, officials say they are erring on the side of caution by informing those affected.

The information was contained in electronic spreadsheets from the Village’s 2011 through 2014 self-funded health insurance plan that included employees and retirees of the Village, Park District, Library, Township and West Suburban Consolidated Dispatch Center.

The files, known as health insurance census reports, included names, social security numbers and health insurance benefits information. Some limited information regarding dependents of plan participants also was contained in the spreadsheets.

“While the employee violated serious work rules that resulted in termination of employment, it is important to note that we have no indication that the information taken was intended for any illegal use,” Village Manager Cara Pavlicek said. “But since we cannot confirm any authorized reason for the employee to take the information, we are erring on the side of caution and notifying those individuals affected.”

The Village learned in late January that a long-time employee in the Human Resources Department had emailed three Microsoft Excel spreadsheets from a work account to that employee’s personal account. While the former employee’s job duties authorized viewing and using the information, its distribution to a private email account was not authorized work and is strictly prohibited by Village policy.

The employee was separated from Village employment in early February following an internal investigation.

“The Village must maintain some private information about its employees. A limited few employees are trusted to manage and protect personal information they access during the work day,” Pavlicek said. “When individuals in these critical positions fail to act responsibly, a fundamental trust is broken and we understandably feel betrayed.”

Pavlicek praised the Village workforce for performing its job duties consistently and with integrity.

“Unfortunately, we cannot prevent an individual employee from conducting themselves in an inappropriate manner. But we can take corrective action and affirm that inappropriate conduct at work will not be tolerated,” she added.

Village employees are aware that their work email is not private. Since this incident, proactive monitoring of outgoing emails has been enhanced.

In addition to alerting individuals of the inappropriate use of their personal information, the letter sent Monday to those affected contains information about monitoring personal finances for unusual activity, and includes contact information for the three major credit monitoring agencies should individuals wish to register a fraud alert.