Letters Sent To OSDE Employees In An Effort To Stop Leaks Are Not Legal, Attorney Says

A letter was sent from State Superintendent Ryan Walters’ Advisor Matt Langston which threatened Oklahoma State Department of Education employees to stop leaking documents or be fired.

A post once public on Facebook, now taken down, had Cheryl McGee's thoughts about her role within the State Department of Education.

"Now OSDE has elected to accuse me of leaking information to the media, which I did not do," said McGee. McGee said she has resigned from her role. "This is a divisive leadership who discriminates and bullies their own employees."

"What you need to know is they have been doing "quiet firing" tactics since January," McGee said at the end of her post.

Mark Hammons, an attorney in the metro, said this type of gotcha action is illegal. 

"It is legal to test if the object itself is legal. If you are testing to find out who the whistleblower is then you are simply saying you are going to retaliate against people sharing public information," said Hammons. "They are going to have lawsuits."

Langston tweeted in the following days an article titled “How Elon Musk Says He Catches Leakers at His Companies” from The Intercept.com.

“Idea from @elonmusk + ChatGPT + Oklahoma liberal media (jumped on the memo like a hand grenade) = clearing out of woke saboteurs @SDE. Baller move by @RyanWaltersSupt,” Langston said in another tweet from May 25. 

"If you are trying to prevent someone from disclosing matters from the interest of the public, there are first-amendment protections. You cannot lawfully do that, and the person who would be individually liable is Mr. Walters," said Hammons.

“Whistleblowers have protections under state law to confidentially report claims of agency or employee mismanagement and criminal misuse of state funds or property,” the Attorney General’s office said.

A post once public on Facebook, now taken down, had Cheryl McGee's thoughts about her role within the State Department of Education.

"Now OSDE has elected to accuse me of leaking information to the media, which I did not do," said McGee. McGee said she has resigned from her role. "This is a divisive leadership who discriminates and bullies their own employees."

"What you need to know is they have been doing "quiet firing" tactics since January," McGee said at the end of her post.

Mark Hammons, an attorney in the metro, said this type of gotcha action is illegal. 

"It is legal to test if the object itself is legal. If you are testing to find out who the whistleblower is then you are simply saying you are going to retaliate against people sharing public information," said Hammons. "They are going to have lawsuits."

Langston tweeted in the following days an article titled “How Elon Musk Says He Catches Leakers at His Companies” from The Intercept.com.

“Idea from @elonmusk + ChatGPT + Oklahoma liberal media (jumped on the memo like a hand grenade) = clearing out of woke saboteurs @SDE. Baller move by @RyanWaltersSupt,” Langston said in another tweet from May 25. 

"If you are trying to prevent someone from disclosing matters from the interest of the public, there are first-amendment protections. You cannot lawfully do that, and the person who would be individually liable is Mr. Walters," said Hammons.

“Whistleblowers have protections under state law to confidentially report claims of agency or employee mismanagement and criminal misuse of state funds or property,” the Attorney General’s office said.