Nepotism: Definition, Exceptions, Waiver

There are two ways to write a nepotism provision. One is to have a short, straightforward prohibition, and allow requests for a waiver under special circumstances. The most frequent circumstance would be a small town or school system where there are not a lot of prospective employees to choose from.

The other way is the one chosen by Louisiana:  three pages of exceptions from the general rule (attached; see below).

There are two ways to define "family" in terms of a nepotism provision:  narrowly (parent, sibling, or child) or broadly. Louisiana has chosen to define it somewhere in the middle.

An article on the website of The Lens (a nonprofit newsroom in New Orleans) detailed the employment by a New Orleans charter school of members of its CEO's family, including a sister, daughter, son-in-law, grandson, great niece, and a son-in-law’s brother.

Defining "Family"
The article notes that three of these family members fall outside the state nepotism provision, because they are not considered "immediate family" (included in the definition are an official's "children, the spouses of his children, his brothers and their spouses, his sisters and their spouses, his parents, his spouse, and the parents of his spouse").

One issue is whether nepotism situations should be limited to these family members or whether this is just a minimal list, because the list could go on forever. Where does one stop? Certainly not where Louisiana stopped. Is there anyone who could argue with a straight face that, in general, a son-in-law means more to a person than a grandson? Or that the public would believe that a mother-in-law means more to an official than an aunt? Clearly this list was the work of a lawyer, not a person who thinks in terms of real relationships or how they appear to other people.

Even a reasonably long list like the one in Louisiana is minimal, and certainly does not reflect the feelings of the public. An official should treat such a list as the minimum expected of her, which means that an official should not believe that it is acceptable to hire an aunt or a stepson just because they're not on the list. The official should consider the spirit of a nepotism prohibition and how hiring someone not on the list would appear to the public.

Advice or Waiver
This is, of course, a difficult decision to make. An official conflicted between the need of a family member for a good job and the need of the public to believe that hiring decisions are made fairly and without discrimination against those without connections, is not in a good position to make such a decision. Officials should not be subject to family pressures and should not subject the public to the feeling that family members of high-level officials are given special preference. For this reason, before an offer is given to the family member of an official, the official should be required to seek independent ethics advice from an ethics officer or formally request a waiver.

Exceptions to a Nepotism Ban
One of the many exceptions in the Louisiana nepotism rule is for an immediate family member of a school board member or superintendent to work as a classroom teacher as long as the family member is state-certified. This exception made it legal for the head of the charter school to hire her daughter.

This exception only deals with one goal of nepotism provisions: to prevent the hiring of unqualified relatives. It does not deal with other problems that arise from hiring relatives, such as the harm to morale of working with the boss's family members, the unfairness to other members of the community, and the harm to the public trust that government jobs are open to every qualified individual.

Such an exception also means that ethics policy is determined not by the state ethics board, but by the legislature. School board associations may lobby the legislature to get a policy that appeals to their members' personal interests. This is terrible. And it sends a message to the public not only that school board members' personal interests take preference, but that the state legislature is more interested in officials' personal interests than in fairness, public trust, or the interest of citizens in having good morale in their schools.

The best thing about Louisiana's nepotism provision is that it does apply to charter schools. Too often, they act outside the jurisdiction of ethics programs.

Ethics Commission Initiation
Another problem with this matter is that, despite The Lens's public presentation of the evidence, the state ethics board has to sit on its hands waiting for someone to file a complaint. It cannot even initiate an investigation based even on public, reliable evidence. Until someone files a complaint, this matter will exist only online.

Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics

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