OLD LYME — First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker was fined on Wednesday by the state’s Freedom of Information Commission after being found guilty of violating the law when she failed to produce incident reports and public records regarding an alleged sexual assault of a teenage intern by an EMT employed by the Old Lyme Ambulance Association.
Attorney Valencia Harmon, the hearing officer who drafted the decision, told the commission it was only the third time in her 20 years in office that she had recommended a civil penalty. The $250 fine, while “small” she said, took into account some of the remedial actions the town had taken to prevent future violations.
“If you have to come to a hearing to learn that certain records exist that are clearly responsive, that concerns me,” Harmon said. “The nature of the records kind of concerns me.”
The decision was as the result of a complaint filed with the commission in July 2024 by CT Examiner, arguing that Shoemaker had failed to turn over documents related to the resignation of Bret David Siegel, a 34-year-old EMT and firefighter, following an undisclosed complaint by a teenage intern.
The undisclosed documents, requested first on March 28, 2024, and again on June 24, 2024, offer a detailed account of workplace horseplay between Siegel and a female teenage intern, that over the course of a day allegedly escalated into repeated incidents of verbal sexual harassment by Siegel and repeated unwanted touching of the teenager’s body and genitals.
Siegel denied the allegations, and no charges were filed against Siegel after an investigation by State Police.
Among the documents that Shoemaker failed to turn over to CT Examiner were two incident reports alleging sexual assault on March 18, 2024. The Ambulance Association sent those reports to Shoemaker the same day and the following day.
The existence of those reports was revealed unexpectedly at a public hearing last December, when Shoemaker said she had them in her possession. She did so after repeated questions from the hearing officer Harmon.
Kristi Kelly, an attorney with Suisman Shapiro representing the town in the case, told commissioners on Wednesday that she was unaware of the reports prior to the December hearing.
“The first hearing was the first time it had become known potentially to me that there could potentially be an existing record that had not been turned over,” said Kelly at Wednesday’s hearing.
Kelly said her client accepted Harmon’s findings, but called the civil penalty of $250, “unreasonable.”
On Wednesday, the debate between members of the state’s Freedom of Information Commission focused less on whether Shoemaker had violated the law by withholding documents, than on what, if any, fine should be imposed.
Kate Farrish, a member of the commission and president of Connecticut Foundation for Open Government, asked whether $250 was a suitable penalty given the case.
“This is a very serious matter and puzzling that these two reports were not unearthed for 160 days and appeared at a hearing,” said Farrish. “And I’m wondering if you [Harmon] considered a higher civil penalty than $250.”
Commissioner Christopher Hankins, a longtime legal counsel for the City of Meriden, supported the penalty.
“I think $250 is a wake-up call,” Hankins said.
Commissioner Matthew Streeter, who has years of experience as a municipal employee and town manager, said he thought the amount was excessive.
“We’re talking about a first selectman. These are part-time people or they may be full-time, but that’s not their career. These are people who volunteer,” Streeter said. “They’re not professionals, they try to do their best.”
“Heavy is the head that wears the crown,” Hankins replied.
Harmon suggested that the penalty could be reduced, but she justified the amount as proposed.
“It’s conduct,” Harmon said, “that really goes to the heart of the public’s right to know.”
Commissioner Jonathan Einhorn, a New Haven attorney and former alderman, proposed to drop the penalty altogether – but was not joined by any other member of the commission.
The decision to endorse Harmon’s findings in the case and the recommended penalty, was supported by the commission in a vote of five to two, with Einhorn and Streeter against.