Boston Water and Sewer has investigated its HR director repeatedly as she rakes in $200K salary amid civil fraud allegations

The Boston Water and Sewer Commission has spent tens of thousands of dollars studying its human support director but continued to give her raises promote her and now pay her salary while she stays home on paid leave Population records circulated by the Commission following a Herald request and appeal to the Secretary of State s office show two outside law firms were hired to conduct investigations into chief human reserve officer Marie Theodat who s embroiled in several civil lawsuits that include fraud charges at different times last year Although the Commission was paying for investigations into charges 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 materials director to chief human reserve officer last September Nearly was billed to the Commission in August and December for two investigations of an undisclosed nature One internal research into Theodat was also conducted by the Commission at a cost that was not disclosed by the quasi-public agency records show The Commission is withholding three internal assessment reports related to Marie Theodat s employment with the agency BWSC spokesperson Dolores Randolph wrote in the records response The Commission was ordered to provide the related reports by the Secretary of State s office after a Herald appeal The Commission investigated assertions of misconduct against Ms Theodat and issued these inspection reports to determine whether any disciplinary action up to and including termination was required Randolph wrote The examination reports include specific details regarding Ms Theodat s personal and professional life and contain factual findings determining the truthfulness of the accusations against her The scrutiny reports are highly likely to create personal embarrassment for Ms Theodat because disclosure would make populace at the very least the claims of misconduct raised against her Randolph added These reports are focused solely on specific accusations of misconduct and there are no segregable portions that could be produced in unredacted form Theodat did not respond to a request for comment Randolph declared the three invoice copies pertained to two firms that were retained to conduct fact investigations on behalf of the Commission related to Ms Theodat s employment with the Commission The Commission chose to redact hourly time entries that reveal sensitive information concerning the nature of the investigations concerning Ms Theodat citing an exemption from populace records law under the work product doctrine A third inspection was conducted by members of the Commission s salaried staff so no additional fees or expenses were incurred in connection with that review Randolph wrote The first commissioned inspection 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 declared was a breakdown in the working relationship between Flaherty and the Commission s Executive Director Henry Vitale The two other invoices for commissioned inspection work as it relates to Theodat 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 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 The first commissioned analysis 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 At the time two other lawsuits were pending against Theodat in Suffolk Superior Court including one that involved selected 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 first came to light in an October Herald record Weeks later per Commission records Serino Law was retained by the agency to conduct an examination into Theodat that per the invoices extended from Oct to Dec The law firm was paid nearly 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 assertions 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 measure numbers Related Articles Boston city councilors push for special voting process ethics committee after Tania Fernandes Anderson plea deal Howie Carr Tania joins DEI Hall of Shame Battenfeld Fernandes Anderson necessities to go now Boston Mayor Wu says federal funding chaos could lead to city layoffs hiring freeze Disgraced Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson hand-picks media interviews after plea deal In February following an earlier Herald records request and appeal the Commission issued records showing that Theodat was on paid administrative leave No reason was listed for her employment change with the Commission citing privacy and personnel exemptions A Herald inquiry last week into when Theodat was placed on leave and how long taxpayers would be paying her salary was not answered by the agency City and Commission payroll records show Theodat was the highest paid human support 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 Chris Christo Boston HeraldMichael Flaherty Chris Christo Boston Herald