Boston Water and Sewer Commission fired its HR director with a $45K payout amid civil fraud allegations

The Boston Water and Sewer Commission s fired human information director Marie Theodat was paid more than by the quasi-public agency upon her termination The payout reflected Theodat s unused vacation and personal time Commission spokesperson Dolores Randolph declared last Friday in response to a Herald population records request As required by the Massachusetts Wage Act Ms Theodat received a payment of for all accrued and unused vacation and personal time at the conclusion of her employment with the Commission Raldolph noted This payment is not a buyout because the payment was required by law Theodat was paid a annual salary with the Water and Sewer Commission She was fired on April after having been on paid administrative leave since Dec of last year presumably allowing her to continue to accrue paid time off Theodat is embroiled in several civil lawsuits that include fraud accusations and was the subject of three internal investigations commissioned by her ex-employer The Commission has not stated a reason for her termination and noted in a prior records response that there was no severance agreement for Theodat Theodat was promoted just last September by the Commission and given a raise earlier in as part of a pay hike she had received since Her promotion from human materials director to chief human reserve officer came after she was named as a defendant in a Suffolk Superior Court lawsuit that alleges she worked with relatives to swindle her elderly and dementia-ridden uncle out of his million Dorchester home The lawsuit filed in August and first communicated by the Herald last September alleges Theodat fraudulently induced her uncle the plaintiff Rodolphe St Cloud to sign over the deed to his longtime home under the guise that he was signing documents related to his physiological care At the time another Superior Court lawsuit had been pending against Theodat alleging that she stiffed a woman on a mortgage loan A jury last fall ruled in favor of the woman who filed suit in against Theodat after a nearly weeklong trial and ordered her to pay to the plaintiff After both lawsuits came to light a trio of unions representing Water and Sewer Commission employees began pressuring the Commission to investigate and suspend Theodat while the severe charges leveled against her in civil lawsuits played out in court Related Articles City looks to improve response times with new South Boston ambulance center in Seaport Josh Kraft son of billionaire Patriots owner puts million of his own cash toward his bid for Boston mayor Boston Mayor Wu launches inspection of BPS transportation provider after bus kills child Boston City Council OKs disability pension hike for BPS guide pummeled by attendee Boston s White Stadium rehab won t be ready in time for NWSL crew s inaugural season The unions SEIU Local IAM Local and OPEIU Local sent a letter to Henry Vitale the Commission s executive director raising concerns about Theodat s personal access to sensitive information such as banking numbers routing information and social precaution numbers About a week before Theodat s termination the Commission disclosed residents records to the Herald in response to a records request and appeal that revealed the Commission had paid for three separate investigations into its ex-HR director The investigations included claims of misconduct the Commission explained in a records response last month Nearly was billed to the Commission in August and December for two investigations of an undisclosed nature conducted by two separate law firms One internal inspection into Theodat was also conducted by the Commission at a cost that was not disclosed by the quasi-public agency records show