HARRISBURG - It was the use of the word "colors" in the context of an email exchange that cost Richard J. Allan his job as secretary of the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
One day after Gov. Tom Corbett forced the resignation of Mr. Allan from his Cabinet post over an undisclosed personnel matter, the governor's office released printed copies Friday of a recent email exchange between Mr. Allan and Patricia M. Allan, his wife and fellow state government employee, concerning her job-related problems with another unidentified state employee.
The state released the email in response to a Right to Know Law request from The Times-Tribune.
Mrs. Allan wrote to her husband on May 3: "She is trying as much as she can to make me look bad."
Mr. Allan responded within minutes: "You have to get this to stop."
Mrs. Allen wrote: "Okay. will do after my next meeting. She just shows her true colors to."
Then Mr. Allan responded with one word, "COLORS," in all capital letters followed by several exclamation points.
This word is a racial reference to the employee the husband and wife are discussing, said Corbett spokesman Kevin Harley. That employee's name is redacted in the released emails.
With Mr. Allan being a top-level department secretary, it was grounds for the governor to ask for and receive his resignation, Mr. Harley said.
Mr. Harley said it's unclear how the employee being discussed became aware of the email.
Mrs. Allan was director of the state Department of Environmental Protection's Policy Office at the time of the exchange. She now works for the Department of State. The email exchange is under the heading, re: falcon banding.
Mr. Allan, a Luzerne County native, had headed the state agency overseeing state parks and forests for two years until his forced resignation.
Contact the writer: rswift@timesshamrock.com