New Report Shows DEEP Paid Employee $109K More Than Allowed

CONNECTICUT — A new report from The Connecticut Auditors of Public Accounts indicates the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection overpaid an employee on administrative leave by $109,239 over 19 months.

DEEP had placed the employee on paid administrative leave, pending criminal charges. State regulations permit the agency to place an employee on a paid leave of absence for up to 30 days, provided written notice be provided to the employee detailing the reason, the effective date of the leave, and the duration of the leave.

According to the CAPA report released Wednesday, DEEP officials allowed the paid leave to continue for more than the permissible month.

The employee received $114,983 in paid administrative leave over 19 months. Of this amount, $109,239 should not have been allowed because it exceeded 30 days, according to the auditors.

Their report did not indicate what criminal charges had been "pending."

Included in the report was DEEP's response to the charge. The agency acknowledged "the importance of complying with state agency regulations regarding paid administrative leave," and blamed COVID for the oversight.

"This happened during the COVID-19 pandemic when courts were hearing cases at an extraordinarily slow rate. This led to the employee remaining on leave for an extended period as management felt it inappropriate and possibly unsafe to allow the employee to return to work pending charges. Ultimately the charges were nulled, and the employee returned to work," DEEP officials said.

CAPA flagged DEEP a second time for an employee who had been placed on paid administrative leave for 11 days with proper supporting documentation.

DEEP officials explained that error this way in the new report:

"In the second instance, the employee resigned and, due to derogatory comments made by said employee, management, in concurrence with the Office of Labor relations, decided the employee should be placed on administrative leave with pay for the two weeks until his last day. In (the) future, the agency will seek extension from the appropriate regulatory authorities should we encounter other extraordinary circumstances such as these."