Former Rochester Employee Admits Taking Sensitive Records
Rochester, MN (KROC AM News) - A former Rochester city employee has been sentenced for taking hundreds of documents from work and storing them in a rental locker.
55-year-old Debra Coyle was charged last September with a felony count of possession of stolen property..
The criminal complaint says the 40 boxes of personnel files and documents - many containing sensitive information - were found in a local storage unit Coyle had been renting for several years. An employee discovered the boxes after opening the unit because Coyle had stopped paying rent.
Coyle admitted taking the documents from the city’s Human Resources office. She told an investigator she began taking the documents because she had planned to use them in a lawsuit against her supervisor, who she said had been “bullying and harassing her.” She apparently decided against the lawsuit after accepting a severance package in 2012.
Coyle says she last saw the documents in 2013. Among the documents were social security numbers, payroll sheets and performance evaluations.
Under the terms of her plea agreement, Coyle was placed in the court diversion program. If she completes the terms of the agreement within two years, the case will be dismissed. One of the conditions is the payment of $8600 in restitution
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