Boston Water and Sewer Commission parts ways with its $200K HR director amid civil fraud allegations

The Boston Water and Sewer Commission s embattled human guidance director embroiled in several civil lawsuits that include fraud statements and investigated on three separate occasions by the quasi-public agency is out of a job Marie Theodat chief human store officer of the Water and Sewer Commission is no longer employed at the agency where she was paid and promoted last year but had been on paid leave since at least this past February Effective April Ms Theodat no longer works for the Commission Dolores Randolph a Commission spokesperson mentioned in a Wednesday report Randolph declined to comment on the reason behind the departure which became effective last Friday as it is a personnel matter While she responded to a Herald inquiry seeking confirmation that Theodat was dismissed from her role Randolph did not respond to further inquiries about whether the departure was initiated by the Commission and when the agency s top human information executive was placed on paid administrative leave The Water and Sewer Commission announced in early February that Theodat was on paid administrative leave after a Herald population records request and appeal to the Secretary of State s office Theodat did not respond to a request for comment The Water and Sewer Commission held an a m executive session-only meeting last Tuesday to discuss litigation and legal advice The meeting was convened two days after the Herald published a statement based on populace records from the Commission that revealed the agency spent tens of thousands of dollars studying Theodat but continued to give her raises promote her and then pay her salary while she stayed home on paid leave The citizens records which demonstrated Theodat had been investigated three times were published to the Herald on April by the Commission after it was compelled to do so following an appeal to the Secretary of State s office Nearly was billed to the Commission by two outside law firms in August and December for two investigations of an undisclosed nature One internal assessment into Theodat was also conducted by the Commission staff at a cost that was not disclosed by the quasi-public agency records show Although the Commission was paying for investigations into assertions of misconduct against Theodat it continued to give her a series of raises Her pay has been hiked by since and the Commission promoted Theodat from human tools director to chief human deposit officer last September City and Commission payroll records show Theodat was the highest paid human materials director in the City of Boston last year and was tied with five other department chiefs as the sixth-highest paid employee at the Commission The Commission chose to withhold the three internal assessment reports related to Marie Theodat s employment with the agency Randolph wrote in the April records response She cited a privacy exemption for doing so but commented generally on what the investigations entailed The Commission investigated accusations of misconduct against Ms Theodat and issued these examination reports to determine whether any disciplinary action up to and including termination was required Randolph wrote The inspection reports are highly likely to create personal embarrassment for Ms Theodat because disclosure would make masses at the very least the claims of misconduct raised against her The first commissioned assessment took place in the month that preceded the filing of a civil lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court that alleged Theodat worked with relatives to swindle her elderly and dementia-ridden uncle out of his home It was conducted between July and July last year according to an Aug invoice from ADR Research The invoice was sent to Michael Flaherty a former Boston city councilor who was general counsel of the Water and Sewer Commission at the time Flaherty was later fired by the Commission this past Jan due to what the quasi-public agency announced was a breakdown in the working relationship between Flaherty and the Commission s Executive Director Henry Vitale At the time two other lawsuits were pending against Theodat in Suffolk Superior Court including one that involved a few of the same parties and the same Dorchester home as the August lawsuit and one that alleges Theodat stiffed a woman on a mortgage loan The August civil lawsuit that alleges Theodat fraudulently induced her uncle to sign over the deed to his million home for less than under the guise that he was signing documents related to his healthcare care first came to light in an October Herald document Weeks later per Commission records Serino Law was retained by the agency to conduct an scrutiny into Theodat that per the invoices extended from Oct to Dec The law firm was paid nearly Two invoices for that work were sent last December to Nixon Peabody an outside law firm that appears to now be handling the bulk of the Commission s legal responsibilities Related Articles Trump administration s visit to Boston to probe college antisemitism is off Don t diss Tania Dianne Wilkerson warns candidates vying to replace disgraced Boston city councilor Pols Politics Betrayal in Boston Galvin looks to fix city referendum flaws Disgraced Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson Zoom-bombs meeting to attack colleagues debating her departure Boston City Council renews ethics committee push after Tania Fernandes Anderson plea deal Per Commission records Nixon Peabody was hired on a contractual basis in late October of last year for and was retained again this past January for a contract that extends throughout the end of this year At the time the Commission was being pressured by a trio of unions representing Water and Sewer Commission employees to investigate and suspend Theodat while the severe statements leveled against her in civil lawsuits played out in court The unions SEIU Local IAM Local and OPEIU Local sent a letter to Vitale the executive director raising concerns about Theodat s personal access to sensitive information such as banking numbers routing information and social defense numbers After obtaining records revealing the existence of three prior internal investigations the Herald inquired about how long city taxpayers would be paying Theodat s salary The Commission did not respond at the time but provided an answer until April on Wednesday Headquarters of the Boston Water and Sewer Commission Nancy Lane Boston Herald