Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations

HARTFORD � State officials are refusing to release the arbitration decisions that allowed more than 40 state employees to get their jobs back after they resigned, retired, or were fired amid accusations they had fraudulently received federal aid.

Linda Yelmini, director of labor relations for the Office of Policy and Management, said Thursday that releasing the decisions � which are otherwise public documents � would violate state and federal laws that keep secret the names of those who apply for and receive welfare.

Yelmini referenced an opinion state officials solicited in January from Attorney General George C. Jepsen�s office. The office said that said a state law to protect welfare applicants outweighs right-to-know laws when it comes to naming the employees who were fired in the case.

At the time, Andrew J. McDonald, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy�s general counsel, indicated the names of the employees could become public if they were to grieve the firings, which they did.

But Yelmini said the documents couldn�t be released even with employee names redacted because the decisions contain other identifying information. She said that was a decision for a judge to make.

The employees received aid under the Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or D-SNAP, claiming damages after Hurricane Irene hit the state as a tropical storm in August.

They were reinstated in a series of grievance arbitration decisions made Tuesday and Wednesday by independent arbiter Susan R. Meredith, who was hired by the state and the unions to hear the grievances. No future grievance hearings are scheduled, Yelmini said.

Meredith, a lawyer and former alternate member of the State Board of Labor Relations, has worked as a labor arbiter since 1985, according to resume filed with the New York state Labor Department. She�s a member of the American Arbitration Association, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and the National Mediation Board.

Meredith charges $1,600 per day for grievance and interest arbitration, the resume says. It was unclear today how much the arbitration action cost the state.

Most of the reinstated employees are represented by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Council 4, the largest union for state employees. Others are members of the Service Employees International Union Local 1199, which represents health care workers, and the SEIU-aligned Connecticut State Employees Association, sources familiar with the grievances said.

Larry Dorman, a spokesman for Council 4, also declined to release the arbitration decisions. Dorman also cited the state law.

The law makes it a felony, carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, to publicly identify people who apply for or receive federal welfare. Ironically, the law references the crime of lying to obtain the aid or helping people obtain welfare to which they�re not entitled, and says the penalty for both should be the same.

Nearly 24,000 state residents received the aid in September, including 824 state employees. Of those, 685 were cleared of wrongdoing, 128 were referred for administrative review, and 103 left state service with 78 firings and 25 resignations or retirements.

The employees were accused of lying about their income and assets to receive the aid. Payouts ranged from $200 for a single adult to $1,202 for a family of eight. The program paid out $12.4 million.

Salvatore Luciano, executive director of AFSCME Council 4, said Wednesday that Meredith�s decisions found the employees �may have engaged in fraud� but �made mistakes in the application and did not commit intentional fraud.� The employees must make restitution and serve suspensions ranging from 15 to 60 days.

Andrew Doba, a Malloy spokesman, said the administration will review each arbitration decision to see if it should be appealed.

�Those that committed some of the most egregious violations have not had their cases heard yet, and are still not employed by the state,� Doba said.