Theo Leijser, who had been the island’s top civil servant until last December, turned to the ODPA after the States of Alderney only provided him with heavily redacted documents pertaining to the decision on why his contract was not renewed.
The ODPA said that it had upheld the complaint ‘partially’ in finding that the States had breached section 15 of the Law, relating to a subject’s rights of access to his personal data, with ‘inconsistent and excessive’ redactions of a letter.
It has now issued an enforcement order to the States of Alderney, requiring it to provide Mr Leijser with ‘an appropriately redacted document’ within one month.
But Mr Leijser said he was disappointed with the breadth of the ODPA’s ruling.
‘They’ve been very narrow in their investigation and in their findings, because it’s only looking at how they have redacted stuff, rather than actually going into the fact that the States has withheld information,’ he said.
‘There’s a list of attachments on the redacted letter that has been sent to the Lt-Governor, and they haven’t even shared those documents.’
Mr Leijser, who is still considering taking the States of Alderney to civil court for unfair dismissal, said he would be writing back to the ODPA to say how disappointed he was.
‘They still haven’t actually provided me with the details that I asked for, and it’s my right to have,’ he said.
‘So I will be asking them to widen their investigation, or I will submit a further data request.’
The termination of Mr Leijser’s career in Alderney has been linked to the resignation of then Policy & Finance chairman Nigel Vooght.
Former States member Bruce Woodhead, who himself resigned just days after Mr Leijser departed, submitted a code of conduct complaint about the circumstances of Mr Leijser’s dismissal, which he described as a ‘kangaroo court’.
The States of Alderney said it was fully committed to upholding the principles and requirements under data protection laws.
‘The States of Alderney, as data controller, will consider steps to ensure that such an error is not repeated and has, as recognised in the ODPA’s statement, co-operated fully in addressing the requirements of the enforcement order,’ it said.
Data Protection Commissioner Brent Homan said: ‘Access to one’s personal information is a fundamental data protection right and empowers individuals to understand and challenge decisions that are made about them. We appreciate the cooperation of the States of Alderney in addressing the requirements of the enforcement order.’
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