CalPERS Fights Back Against Accusations Over Destruction of Evidence

(June 17, 2011) — The nation’s largest public pension fund — the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) — is fighting back against recent criticism over its email deletion policy. 

The fund’s email deletion policy was disclosed recently in response to a Public Records Act request from the Los Angeles Times. The public fund defended its deletion policy in an email to aiCIO:

“The policy was not new. It was put in place on November 14, 2000. In April 2009 it was inadvertently disabled when we upgraded our email system and reactivated in July 2010. This is clearly spelled out in the communication the Times received in their PRA,” CalPERS spokesman Brad Pacheco stated.

The fund also asserted that CalPERS staff were trained on the policy. “Employees received communication about the policy in 2000 and again in 2010, had tips for determining which emails to delete on intranet, received reminders, and offers from Info Security Office to assist. Managers received values training that included this topic, and a handbook that covered the policy.”

CalPERS indicated that it was not given the opportunity to respond to the accusation that it could be “destroying evidence of misdeeds.”

Peter Mixon of CalPERS’ General Counsel said: “The suggestion in the story that CalPERS has thwarted any federal or state law enforcement effort in connection with the administration of the agency’s email policies is wrong. On the contrary, CalPERS has been praised by both federal and state authorities for the assistance it has provided to them in their investigations. CalPERS remains committed to protecting the interests of its members and beneficiaries, and continues to support the investigatory efforts of federal and state authorities.”

Questions over the fund’s policy of deleting emails older than 60 days began last week, with accusations that it could be destroying important evidence of wrongdoing. The timing of CalPERS’ email deletion policy has been raising concerns, largely due to former officials at the fund being the focus of investigations by state and federal authorities. Critics of CalPERS’ email policy also assert that at government agencies, emails are considered public records.