A Club…Addendum 2 – FOIA, FOIA, FOIA, on and on...

Greetings:

Yeah, an update on my FOIA request. You may recall that when I received the final findings back in March the information was embarrassingly slight. Kind of made me wonder the worth of the Freedom of Information Act – must not be that big of a deal when the people generating the information may have a vested interest in not being too forthcoming. Nonetheless, it took me awhile to consider the lack of information and get over another bout of depression regarding the whole damned thing. Fortunately, it was just at the time of my appointment at the university here in Vlora and the holiday to Amsterdam – staying busy is always good and Amsterdam with Mitesh was a great distraction.

I finally got around to the appeal and sent this letter off to an Associate Director of the Peace Corps last April. A bunch of stuff you already know. Now, at the time of this communication I noted a spike in blog traffic – I thought it would be great if someone back in DC took the time to get some sense of the story. So, maybe I can spark some additional action by making all of this public. Here’s the letter:

April 28, 2016                           VIA Email

Alan C. Price, Associate Director – Management, Peace Corps                               

1111 20th Street NW

Washington, DC 20526.

Re: Freedom of Information Act Appeal: FOIA/PA 15-0247

Dear Director Price:

This email represents my formal appeal of the findings regarding my FOIA request (September 02, 2015) for information pertaining to my Peace Corps service in Albania (March – August 2015). I have attached the letter my attorney received at the time of the final document receipt. The letter itemizes the material we requested.

During my Pre-Service Training I was the subject of malicious gossip resulting in a sexual harassment complaint in August 2015; on August 10, 2015 I responded to this complaint in rather lengthy letter (attached) to Earl Wall, the Country Director. He investigated the complaint and determined it was groundless. He informed me that he submitted his findings to the Peace Corps DC office – this was on August 17, 2015.

Hardly recovering from that experience, on August 19, 2015 I received an email from Lateefah Burgess, Peace Corps Placement Director, with a “Notice of Consideration of Administrative Separation.”

The substance of the notice was that I failed to include on my Peace Corps application of January 2014 two “charges.” Both of which I would not have had any qualms including or responding to had I thought about it or had I been asked to address: One was a theft charge which was dismissed because of stolen identity; the second was a thirteen-year-old DUI, which, because the breathalyzer was well below the state limits, I was informed by my Florida attorney (I was living in Utah) that the charge would be reduced to littering/reckless driving (the latter was not true but it was cheaper than flying back for a hearing). This reduced charge communication unfortunately was not the case (it was only during this communication with Ms. Burgess that my attorney informed me that indeed the Florida court record showed my Florida attorney entered a guilty plea for an alcohol/driving offense). My attorney also informed me that this Florida attorney has had a number of complaints filed against him with the state and local bar associations.

Neither of these charges showed up on the criminal record which was forwarded as part of my January 2014 Peace Corps application. I did my best to explain these circumstances to Ms. Burgess, including having my attorney request the court documents for her consideration. Ms. Burgess declined the offer and on August 26, 2015 Mr. Wall called to inform me that my termination from the Peace Corps would be effective August 31, 2015.

My attorney immediately filed a FOIA request. After repeated Peace Corps promises, our repeated requests, and finally with the help of my congressman, we received the “interim” report on December 30, 2015; only after more promises, requests and congressional help did we receive the “final response” on March 18, 2016.

Subsequent to my forced resignation from the Peace Corps I have been broadcast on web sites and in the Albanian national media as a “sexual molester” – this as a result of the continued defamation arising from the wrongful complaint and disaffected Peace Corps volunteers in Albania. Considering my immediate service termination following the phone conversation with the Country Director regarding the complaint dismissal, my attorney and I both wondered if there was an unspoken/unadmitted connection between the unfounded complaint and my subsequent termination from the service. The recommendation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Council (EEOC) offered to the Peace Corps regarding its use of the extensive background check information does not justify my service termination.

(http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/foia/letters/2011/title_vii_criminal_record_peace_corps_application.html)

How is it that this “irregularity” just became an issue a full year and a half after my Peace Corps application and cause for termination and within days after Mr. Wall submitted his report finding the sexual harassment complaint without basis?

For what we received in the reports (interim and final), we feel the delays were unconscionable: the bulk of the interim report consisted of my Peace Corps application and form emails; the final report contains no information regarding the sexual harassment charge (surprisingly, it did not even include my communication to Mr. Wall at the time); in neither report is there any record of the sexual harassment complaint or the findings; and other than copies of form emails there is nothing of substance regarding my termination.

The FOIA report is embarrassingly incomplete. Please note one instance in the March 18, 2016 final report which references a meeting in an August 25, 2015 email to Earl Wall from Lateefah Burgess (pg. 32): “Sheila Crowley, Ami Richardson, and I have had a chance to review Mr. Martin’s responses [redacted]. We determined that William should be removed from service…” Certainly one of them took notes at this meeting and there is a file in someone’s office regarding their deliberation and conclusions. How did their conclusions deem me unfit for service? Why is there no documentation?

Please review carefully my attorney’s request and the documents requested. We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

William K. Martin

A few days later I received this:

From: FOIA [FOIA@peacecorps.gov]

Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2016 7:06 PM

To: William Karl Martin

Cc: Stacy McNeill; Gazmir Maksuti

Subject: FOIA Request Appeal No. 16-0115

Dear Mr. Martin,

This is to acknowledge receipt of your Freedom of information Act (FOIA) / Privacy Act (PA) appeal letter of April 28, 2016.   It is appealing the response we made in FOIA/PA Request No. 15-0247.

You will receive our response within 30 business days.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Denora Miller, FOIA/Privacy Act Officer at 202-692-1236 or at FOIA@peacecorps.gov.

Sincerely,

Chanel Diggs

FOIA/PA Specialist

I told my stateside attorney that my heart was pounding when I saw the email in the inbox – thinking they had rejected my appeal out-of-hand. But no, they got my request and I’d get a response within thirty business days. Really, thirty business days – so…let’s see…thirty business days from the 28th? or from the 4th? Hell, let’s give them the benefit to drag their feet some more and go with the latter. May 4th to…yeah, June 15th. OK. Should have gotten something by last Friday. Nope. Nothing. Déjà vu all over again. You know damn well that if I had missed the deadline to file my appeal by more than a nano-second it would have been denied. Standards (or maybe calendars) are not quite the same across the board.

And I certainly looked forward to renewing my communication with Denora Miller (as instructed by Chanel Diggs). You may recall how many time I asked Ms. Miller what it meant when she would tell me I would get the final FOIA by blah-blah-blah, and then shooting off another email wondering how it was possible to miss another promised date. Here I go again:

From: William Karl Martin

Sent: Sunday, June 19, 2016 1:58 PM

To: FOIA

Cc: Stacy McNeill; Gazmir Maksuti

Subject: RE: FOIA Request Appeal No. 16-0115

Attention: Denora Miller

Dear Ms. Miller

Please see below the confirmation email from Chanel Diggs, FOIA/PA Specialist, regarding the receipt of my FOIA appeal and the promise that I would hear from your office within 30 business days. That deadline has passed. I would appreciate your quick response and resolution of this matter.

Thank you.

William K. Martin, PhD

Ismail Qemali University

Vlorë, Albania

Home of Albanian Declaration of Independence, November 28, 1912

+355 69 322 3141

http://wkmartin.blogspot.com/

I can sense some of your thoughts as I write these words, “Jeez, Bill, let it go. You’ve landed in a good place; you don’t need this crap.” I understand. Well, after almost a year after the initial complaint, this stuff is never far from my thoughts.

About a month ago Mitesh was walking by my office with a new Peace Corps Volunteer. He made some introductions and said, “And this is the famous Doc Martin.” It was a running joke with Mitesh, Doc Martin, Doc Martens. Of course I made the wrong jump, “Yeah, I’m the famous harasser.” I could see it shook the young volunteer and she said, “Well, I don’t pay attention to that stuff.” An unfortunate exchange. But, her reply, kind of ironic, huh? Like I said way back in the early installments on all of this, this kind of complaint will stay forever.

So, no choice – FOIA, OIG, ACLU, court cases, whatever – as long as it takes to get out from under it.

Oh yeah, the prosecutor here is still hoping for Bonnie’s location. Somewhere in Yellowstone this summer – any clues, I’d appreciate it.  

My best to all you guys.

XOXO