Or. Admin. Code § 839-010-0010 - Disclosures by Public Employees: Definitions
As used in ORS 659A.200 to 659A.224 and these rules:
(1) "Abuse of authority" means to
deliberately exceed or make improper use of delegated or inherent authority or
to employ it in an illegal manner.
(2) "Agency" for the purposes of OAR
839-010-0010 to
839-010-0060 refers to the state
or any agency of or political subdivision in the state.
(3) "Disciplinary action" means any adverse
action including dismissal, demotion, transfer, reassignment, supervisory
reprimand, warning of possible dismissal, or withholding of work, whether or
not the action affects or will affect employee compensation.
(4) "Disclosure" means a formal or informal
internal or extra-agency communication, not including a communication
concerning policy decisions that lawfully exercise discretionary authority
unless the employee providing the disclosure reasonably believes that the
disclosure evidences:
(a) A violation of any
federal or state law, rule, or regulation by the agency;
(b) Mismanagement;
(c) Gross misuse or waste of public resources
or funds;
(d) Abuse of authority
in connection with the administration of a public program or the execution of a
public contract; or
(e) A
substantial and specific danger to public health or safety resulting from
agency action.
(5)
"Employee" means a person:
(a) Employed by or
under contract with the state or any agency of or political subdivision in the
state;
(b) Employed by or under
contract with any person authorized to act on behalf of the state, or agency of
the state or subdivision in the state, with respect to control, management or
supervision of any employee;
(c)
Employed by the public corporation created under ORS
656.751;
(d) Employed by the public corporation
established under ORS
741.001;
(e) Employed by a contractor who performs
services for the state, agency or subdivision, other than employees of a
contractor under contract to construct a public improvement; and
(f) Employed by or under contract with any
person authorized by contract to act on behalf of the state, agency or
subdivision.
(6) "Gross
waste of funds" means an expenditure that is significantly out of proportion to
the benefit expected to accrue to the agency and is more than a debatable
expenditure.
(7) "Mismanagement"
means serious agency misconduct having the effect of actually or potentially
undermining the agency's ability to fulfill its public mission.
(8) "Public employer" means:
(a) The state or any agency of or political
subdivision in the state; and
(b)
Any person authorized to act on behalf of the state, or any agency of or
political subdivision in the state, with respect to control, management or
supervision of any employee.
(9) "Reckless disregard for its truth or
falsity" means a conscious disregard of a substantial and justifiable risk that
the information disclosed is false.
(10)
"Substantial and specific danger" means a specified risk of serious injury,
illness, peril or loss, to which the exposure of the public is a gross
deviation from the standard of care or competence that a reasonable person
would observe in the same situation.
Notes
Stat. Auth.: ORS 659A.805 & 659A.221
Stats. Implemented: ORS 659A.233, 659A.200 - 659A.224 & 2014 OL Ch. 78, Sec. 2
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
As used in ORS 659A.200 to 659A.224 and these rules:
(1) "Abuse of authority " means to deliberately exceed or make improper use of delegated or inherent authority or to employ it in an illegal manner.
(2) "Agency " for the purposes of OAR 839-010-0010 to 839-010-0060 refers to the state or any agency of or political subdivision in the state.
(3) "Disciplinary action " means any adverse action including dismissal, demotion, transfer, reassignment, supervisory reprimand, warning of possible dismissal, or withholding of work, whether or not the action affects or will affect employee compensation.
(4) "Disclosure " means a formal or informal internal or extra-agency communication, not including a communication concerning policy decisions that lawfully exercise discretionary authority unless the employee providing the disclosure reasonably believes that the disclosure evidences:
(a) A violation of any federal or state law, rule, or regulation by the agency ;
(b) Mismanagement ;
(c) Gross misuse or waste of public resources or funds;
(d) Abuse of authority in connection with the administration of a public program or the execution of a public contract ; or
(e) A substantial and specific danger to public health or safety resulting from agency action.
(5) "Employee " means a person :
(a) Employed by or under contract with the state or any agency of or political subdivision in the state;
(b) Employed by or under contract with any person authorized to act on behalf of the state, or agency of the state or subdivision in the state, with respect to control, management or supervision of any employee ;
(c) Employed by the public corporation created under ORS 656.751;
(d) Employed by the public corporation established under ORS 741.001;
(e) Employed by a contractor who performs services for the state, agency or subdivision, other than employees of a contractor under contract to construct a public improvement; and
(f) Employed by or under contract with any person authorized by contract to act on behalf of the state, agency or subdivision.
(6) "Gross waste of funds " means an expenditure that is significantly out of proportion to the benefit expected to accrue to the agency and is more than a debatable expenditure.
(7) "Mismanagement " means serious agency misconduct having the effect of actually or potentially undermining the agency 's ability to fulfill its public mission.
(8) "Public employer " means:
(a) The state or any agency of or political subdivision in the state; and
(b) Any person authorized to act on behalf of the state, or any agency of or political subdivision in the state, with respect to control, management or supervision of any employee .
(9) "Reckless disregard for its truth or falsity" means a conscious disregard of a substantial and justifiable risk that the information disclosed is false.
(10) "Substantial and specific danger " means a specified risk of serious injury, illness, peril or loss, to which the exposure of the public is a gross deviation from the standard of care or competence that a reasonable person would observe in the same situation.
Notes
Stat. Auth.: ORS 659A.805 & 659A.221
Stats. Implemented: ORS 659A.233, 659A.200 - 659A.224 & 2014 OL Ch. 78, Sec. 2