Public Records Act (PRA) Request to UC Berkeley

Filed: Nov 21, 2016

Status: outstanding, 629 days

Responsible Responding Party: William (Bill) Allison, IST HR

Material Requested: Supporting documentation for hiring by William (Bill) Allison of a white male Project Manager, July 2015

Starting in fall 2014, Vanessa Kaskiris escalated concerns regarding sexual harassment and a hostile work environment to management in IT at UC Berkeley.

In July 2015, William (Bill) Allison, UC Berkeley CTO, hired a white male Project Manager to the department that he manages. According to a timeline provided by Mr. Allison during a University investigation for which he was interviewed, 1 month later, in late August 2015, Mr. Allison made the decision to eliminate Vanessa Kaskiris’ position as a Project Manager in the department that he manages, citing mandatory budget cuts. The position for which Ms. Kaskiris was hired was created with Mr. Allison’s approval 16 months earlier.

The newly created PM position that was filled by a white male PM was not offered to Ms. Kaskiris, inconsistent with position control policy (PPSM 21 Section III part A ).

On the one hand, if the timeline provided by Mr. Allison is credible and accurate, then the supporting documentation for this PRA request should be readily available.

On the other hand, if Mr. Allison fabricated the timeline in the investigation interview to conceal his knowledge of Ms. Kaskiris’ steadily escalating concerns to management about discrimination and sexual harassment, then the supporting documentation for this PRA request does not exist and will never be made available.

PRA Request was filed on November 21, 2016. To date, 90 weeks later, ZERO responsive documents have been provided. The University PRA officer claimed that approved requests, of which this request is, typically take 8 weeks. The white male PM hired by Bill Allison has been removed from IST’s organization chart. It is our belief that IST is intentionally hiding / obscuring this employee in response to this PRA request.

PRA Office Response: “The current timeframe for fulfillment of most requests is 8 weeks, although this may vary due to the nature and complexity of the request.”

Actual request: Under the California Public Records Act Section 6250 et seq. I am requesting an opportunity to inspect and obtain copies of public records that relate to the employment of Alexander Walton (UID: 80107) for the particular role of Project Manager in JICCS - Architecture Platform Integration. Mr Walton states on his LinkedIn profile (Nov 20, 2016) as working on the Email Simplification Program and other Clients.

Specifically, I am requesting the following:

1. Requisition
   1. Who requested the role – full text of request including timestamps of submission, approval path, denoting who has created the requisition and all approvals.
   2. The request for approval of the requisition
   3. Who approved and when – full approval records
   4. Under which budget number was the position planned
   5. Under which budget item is the position paid.
   6. Under which budget numbers is the position paid in FY2016 and FY2017.
2. Position Announcement:
   1. Position description
   2. Who was eligible
   3. Was it open to existing Campus Staff?
   4. Posted where
   5. Posted between which dates
   6. Hiring manager’s name and position
   7. Interviewers’ names and positions
3. Hiring:
   1. All compliance evidence that the hiring manager has looked into existing project managers in his groups, e.g., End Point Engineering, in compliance with PPSM 21 Section III part A.
   2. All material submitted by the successful applicant including resume, prior qualifications, statements and the precise dates that these material were submitted through electronic timestamps.
   3. Employment contract of Mr Walton
   4. Current salary and total compensation
4. Position
   1. A log of work done by Mr Walton through project management tools (e.g. list of JIRA logs, and any other tool used for task tracking since the inception of the work on the Email Simplification Program through November 20th, 2016).
   2. Who is Mr Walton’s manager

If there are any fees for searching or copying these records, please inform me of the cost.

The California Public Records Act requires a response within ten business days. If access to the records I am requesting will take longer, please contact me with information about when I might expect copies or the ability to inspect the requested records.

If you deny any or all of this request, please cite each specific exemption you feel justifies the refusal to release the information and notify me of the appeal procedures available to me under the law.

Thank you for considering my request