SEC. 4.120. CONFIDENTIALITY.
§ 4.120
City officers and employees must keep confidential the identity of whistleblowers and the contents of complaints filed under the city's whistleblower procedures, except when disclosure is necessary for investigations, legal proceedings, or referrals to other agencies. Violations may result in administrative penalties and disciplinary action up to dismissal.
People who report wrongdoing to the city are protected: their names and the details of their complaints must be kept secret by city workers. However, the city can share this information when needed to actually investigate a complaint, when required by court or legal proceedings, or when sending a case to another city department or government agency for action. City employees who break these confidentiality rules can be disciplined or even fired.
- Controversial:Whistleblower protections and confidentiality rules are subject to public debate about balancing employee privacy against transparency and accountability.
- Complex:The section contains multiple cross-references to other code sections and the Charter, and subsection (d) creates several overlapping exceptions that may be unclear in interaction.
AI-generated · claude-haiku-4-5 · informational only, not legal advice.
Official text
(a) WHISTLEBLOWER IDENTITY. City officers and employees shall treat as confidential the identity of any person who files a complaint as set forth in Section 4.105(a). A complainant may voluntarily disclose his or her identity.
(b) COMPLAINTS AND INVESTIGATIONS. City officers and employees shall treat as confidential complaints filed under Sections 4.105, 4.115, and 4.117, and related information, including but not limited to materials gathered and prepared in the course of investigating such complaints, and deliberations regarding such complaints.
(c) PENALTIES. Except as provided in subsection (d), violations of subsections (a) and (b) may be subject to the administrative proceedings and penalties set forth in Charter Section C3.699-13, in addition to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal by his or her appointing authority.
(d) EXCEPTIONS.
(1) Conduct of Investigations. Nothing in this Section 4.120 shall preclude the Controller’s Office, Ethics Commission, District Attorney, and City Attorney from disclosing the identity of an individual or other information to the extent necessary to conduct its investigation.
(2) Legal Proceedings. Nothing in this Section 4.120 shall preclude City officers and employees from disclosing the identity of an individual or other information relating to a complaint to the extent required by the rules governing an administrative or court proceeding.
(3) Referrals. Nothing in this Section 4.120 shall preclude the Ethics Commission from referring any matter to any other City department, commission, board, officer, or employee, or to other government agencies, for investigation and possible disciplinary or enforcement action.
(Added by Ord. 71-00, File No. 000358, App. 4/28/2000; amended by Ord. 299-18, File No. 180317, App. 12/21/2018, Eff. 1/21/2019; re-enacted by Proposition D, 3/5/2024, Eff. 4/12/2024, Oper. 10/12/2024)