The former head of the state Division of Administrative Law Appeals, forced to resign in August amid allegations of mismanagement, continues to draw $6,300 a month in consultant pay for work she failed to complete during her two-year tenure.Shelly Taylor, 48, earned a portion of her $108,000 annual salary for the month following her Aug. 7 resignation because she was helping her replacement, Richard C. Heidlage, ease into his new job responsibilities, Heidlage said.
Heidlage, who was hired at the agency by Taylor last year, said he retained Taylor as a paid consultant for two additional months because assigning Taylor’s unfinished cases to other magistrates would require them to start again, reviewing cases from the beginning and repeating hearings.
The backlog has created havoc for people who came to the agency for relief. A former prison guard who has waited 16 months for Taylor’s decision on his request for a disability pension said she does not deserve additional pay or extra time to finish her work.
“As a taxpayer, I am furious,’’ said Jeff Waite, 49. “I worked for the state. They paid me to do a job. They paid her to do a job; now do it.’’
The little-known Division of Administrative Law Appeals makes hundreds of critical decisions each year on cases including government workers’ pensions and appeals from professionals such as doctors and day care workers whose state-issued licenses have been suspended or revoked.
In many of Taylor’s cases, litigants have been waiting a year or more for rulings.
“Shelly took on too much herself, and, as a result of that, she was unable to get decisions out, and she was essentially a choke point for getting work out of the agency,’’ Heidlage said. “That was the problem.’’
Taylor did not respond to requests for comment left on her home answering machine and sent to her e-mail address.
UPDATE: More from Michael Graham.
SECOND UPDATE: From the Herald and Globe.
THIRD UPDATE: From the Boston Phoenix.
