TMCnet News
No-work state worker big surprise to legislators: Leaders of legislative insurance panels to grill agency about how investigator lacked duties(Times Union (Albany, NY) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Feb. 7--ALBANY -- Dumbstruck leaders of the Legislature's insurance committees say they will be demanding explanation from the New York State Insurance Fund's top officers about how one of their employees has gone without work for years. Assemblyman Joseph Morelle, D-Monroe County, and Sen. Neil Breslin, D-Bethlehem, said they were flabbergasted after reading the tale of Randall Hinton, the Insurance Fund's Albany branch employee with the title of director of investigations. A story in the Times Union Thursday detailed how Hinton is paid nearly $94,000 a year but laments that he has done no meaningful work since 1999 and nothing for the past three years. Hinton blamed his superiors for denying his requests for duties commensurate with his qualifications because he was being punished for suing their colleagues. As a result, Hinton said he has languished in an out-of-the way office without any work for three straight years. Amid millions of layoffs nationwide, the article sparked widespread interest after being listed on the Drudge Report. It has drawn hundreds of thousands of visits to the Times Union's Web site. Comments on the site have ranged from some supporting Hinton for going public and saying they suffer from hostile work circumstances to many sharply critical of a man with a good paying job complaining about anything. Hinton said he sits with his feet up on his desk and watches cars go by on I-90, listens to his iPod and reads every day. "I want some answers," said Breslin, a lawyer who said he was measuring his words carefully. "I'll talk to Joe (Morelle) first and ask for some responses from the parties involved and if we're not satisfied we'll call a hearing. We would want responses from the parties involved." Morelle said he knows Insurance Fund Chairman Robert H. Hurlbut well and will be calling him first, but he will also seek information from Executive Director David Wehner about Hinton's situation. "The suggestion that he hasn't done anything for 10 years, I don't have the words to describe how disturbing that is," said Morelle, who is also a private businessman near Rochester. "Unbelievable." He said he doesn't want to jump to conclusions but if necessary he would conduct a full blown investigation. "It sounds almost too fantastic to be true," Morelle said. Hinton said he did not want to comment at this time because he is seeking a lawyer. Robert Lawson, a spokesman for the Insurance Fund, maintained Hinton has an assignment as supervisor of an injury report program, although Hinton and his former boss have said the program was disbanded about three years ago. Even before then, the assignment was very light duty, Hinton and his former boss said. Hinton has objected to being denied the work associated with an investigations director and the tools to do the job. He said he has sought opportunities for advancement and has been ignored. His post at the Insurance Department was provided him through a settlement of a lawsuit he lodged a decade ago against the Department of Environmental Conservation, where he had served as director of investigations. He said he was required to work in a storage closet for two years before the suit. His discrimination suit settlement called for him to get a similar title and said that he would supervise personnel at the Insurance Fund, which sells workers' compensation and disability insurance policies to private businesses. A Native American, Hinton, 55, with 27 years of state service, alleges in a new Division of Human Rights complaint that he is being discriminated against and is suffering from retaliation. He asserts that Republicans at the helm of the Insurance Fund are blackballing him for having sued officials in the Pataki administration, from which they came, a claim that his former boss backs up. The Insurance Fund's top posts come with nine-year appointments, allowing them to hold jobs for years beyond Gov. George Pataki's December 2006 departure. For instance, Wehner's post expires in January 2015. Breslin and Morelle said the length of the terms may need to be modified. "That's incredibly long," Morelle said. As for Hinton seeking a post as director of fraud investigations, a position already occupied by an appointee making $140,000 a year, Lawson said: "I'd like to be PR for the New York Yankees too. I do not put any credence in this business that people who worked for the Pataki administration are trying to keep him down." Asked if Hinton is doing any work, Lawson said: "I have to assume he is." Gov. David Paterson's spokesman had no comment and after being pressed, Lawson called from the Insurance Fund with the following statement: "NYSIF does not tolerate the type of behavior described in Thursday's Times Union story. Such behavior would violate our longstanding policy against fraud, waste and abuse. Mr. Hinton had definite duties and responsibilities and we intend to investigate the matter and take all appropriate steps to address the situation." Lawson said he expects there will be "continuing discussions with him" and that public disclosure may be limited because of the action Hinton has filed against the Insurance Fund. Hurlbut was unavailable, but board member Denis Hughes, president of the New York AFL-CIO, said he was unaware of the work concerns involving Hinton, a non-union employee with a civil service protection on his post, until told about it by a reporter. He said Hinton should use the proper channels to resolve his complaints. James M. Odato can be reached at 454-5083 and [email protected]. To see more of the Albany Times Union, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.timesunion.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Albany Times Union, N.Y. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |