DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Man paid $93803 to do NOTHING

N.Y. employee is paid $93,803 to sit, do nothing
Friday, February 6, 2009 3:00 AM
By James M. Odato
ALBANY (N.Y.) TIMES UNION
ALBANY, N.Y. -- As he tells it, Randall Hinton spends much of his workday at the New York State Insurance Fund donning headphones and listening to rock 'n' roll, blues or classical tunes -- and his superiors are cool with that.

His work agenda, for which he is paid $93,803 a year, involves placing his feet up on his desk, staring out his office window and counting cars on the New York State Thruway. He arrives at 7:30 a.m., leaves at 3:30 p.m., sees no one and talks to no one.

He never does any work. It's been this way for Hinton for most of this decade.

"I just sit here," said Hinton, 55, of Niskayuna, N.Y., a

27-year state employee who has held several high-level posts at various agencies.

A member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe, he said he is being discriminated against because of his national origin and retaliated against for having sued the state.

Since February 2002, Hinton has been director of investigations for the Insurance Fund, but he said he never has been allowed to investigate anything. He's unproductive at work because his superiors are blackballing him, he and his former boss say.

Hinton says he is without a portfolio as retaliation for suing Gov. George Pataki's administration 10 years ago, alleging discrimination then, too. That was after getting assigned to a storeroom for two years for refusing to leave his post at the Department of Environmental Conservation heading investigations to make room for a Republican appointee, he said.

In a January 2002 settlement in his suit, he was guaranteed state employment as a director of investigations.

Court papers show the stipulation promised Hinton his post at the Insurance Fund. They gave him a job and an office but told his boss not to let Hinton handle anything of substance, according to Hinton and his former manager.

On Monday, Hinton filed a complaint with the Division of Human Rights claiming discrimination stemming from the retaliation of his original claim against the Department of Environmental Conservation.

Hinton said he's treated as a second-class employee with fewer resources than even the lowliest Insurance Fund worker. "I have no Internet access, no printer, no laptop, no car. Every day it's a struggle for me to bring in something I haven't read or listened to. I can tell you how many white cars pass on the Thruway. ... I can't take it anymore."

His former boss at the Insurance Fund, Edward Obertubbesing, backed up Hinton's story. He said Hinton is being victimized by GOP superiors who don't want him doing much.

"I think it is because he had the gall to sue Gov. Pataki and he had a high-profile job in a Democratic administration," said Obertubbesing, now an Insurance Fund lawyer. "Quite honestly, it bothered me."

He said Hinton thought things would improve when Eliot Spitzer became governor, but the Democratic administrations of Spitzer and Gov. David Paterson have not broken the pattern set by the Pataki holdovers still at the helm of the Insurance Fund.

A Paterson spokesman did not comment on the matter.

The man and his old boss say he's given

no work in retaliation for suing former Gov. George Pataki.



Do you believe this guy. I know there will be people that say they know where this guy is coming from but if you can't entertain yourself for 94k you are a sad,sad person.

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Do you believe this guy. I know there will be people that say they know where this guy is coming from but if you can't entertain yourself for 94k you are a sad,sad person.

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One of two things are happening.. don't know which.

1. He's a guy that just wants to take pride in what he does and since they won't let him do anything, he's annoyed and disgusted and wanted to tell the world of his situation.

2. In these hard budget times, he senses the end of the gravy train coming and is setting up another lawsuit that will require a settlement that keeps him making the money, with annual increases and penstion benefits for the next 10 years.

Take your pick.

I'd say its the first. The State didn't fire him when the Republicans wanted to bring their own guy in they just reassigned him to a storeroom and apparently he won his case cause he was then promoted to "director of investigations for the Insurance Fund".

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"director of investigations for the Insurance Fund".

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Nice title, but it appears no real duties.. so yeah, it could be he's just ticked cause of how they stick him in the corner to do nothing.

Tell ya what, you wanna talk about stupid managment types... if they have a problem with this guy,, then bury him in work, either he gets it done right and he earns his pay, or he fails and gets fired.. win win for managment either way

I want his job when he retires, I will even pay for my own internet access

The guy is an idiot. Why on earth would you want to advertise and bring attn to the fact that you have a cake job that pays 90 large? The smart thing to do is keep quiet, pay off all your bills and stash the cash.

STFU moron.

Wow... how does one go about finding and landing one of these recession proof cushy desk jobs?

i know I am in the minority, but I have no problem with him wanting more responsibility and respect him for it.

Life is about more than money. I have been in a similar situation. I had a job that payed me over 40 grand with benefits for two hours of work a day. except I had to sit at my desk for the other 6 hours.

On one hand it was nice, but I hated it. At some point you reach a point where you do not want to see your skills go to waste and no matter how easy the money is, the boredom and monotony reaches a point where you loath and hate your job.

I left my position for a new position where I would be utilized. I no longer hate going to work and I have a better view of my own self worth, as I actually feel like I accomplish something during the day.

I am much happier, and I do not have it on my conscience that I am basically stealing money that I did not earn.

Money is nice, but it cannot buy you happiness. At some point most people have to make a choice as to how much of their dignity and self worth they are willing lose in pursuit of riches. It is a personnel choice and I respect this man for making the decision that he made.

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A member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe, he said he is being discriminated against because of his national origin and retaliated against for having sued the state.

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I just wish someone would discriminated against me and give me a job like this.

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Life is about more than money.

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I totally agree there is more to life than money but I don't see what that has to do with this article.

I go to work everyday,60+ hours a week,work my tail off, second shift,don't see my family much,for about 40k a year.Its a pretty secure job after being layed off 7 times at other jobs,been here over 10 yrs. so that is why i stay.

I'm just saying the man doesn't have to do nothing and gets payed 94k.

I would rather set in a room for 94k on 1st shift and do nothing 40hrs a week and see my family
over
working 60+ hours,on 2nd for 40k and not see my family.

the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence.

Being a laborer by trade, money is not everything but its the only reason I work. I don't get up everyday and go to work because i don't have nothing better to do. if I don't get payed I don't go to work.

also: it's not in this article but i read in a different story on this guy that this guys job is layoff proof. His job can't be done away with.

to me the choice is a no brainer

get up, go to work,shut up, collect pay check, REPEAT

I have just filed a lawsuit against Gov. Ted Strickland. Hopefully I will be in my new office doing nothing making $90,000 a year by next week

...i thought it was for sure going to be someone in a union

It's called politics..you have to know people

I thought this thread was about Stallworth at first haha

Ok, you spend 8hrs a day in this office, get a wireless internet card, and start a web-based business, learn website programming or volunteer your time on a crisis center web-forum....Do something to while collecting a nice fat paycheck.

I think there is definitely a piece of #1 in there...But I think that #2 is the larger force in this....The article clearly states that he has been doing this for the better part of this decade. So the guy has been doing nothing for almost 10 years and NOW all of a sudden he has a problem with it????

No....I am sorry I don't buy that...Several months months maybe...after that you are just taking advantage....and this guy has been doing it for years....

I bet they guy had it up to here (holding my hand to my eyes) with the QB deadbates, and can't stand to read the threads in pure football anymore

Sounds to me like the guy was fed up the republicans who supposedly put him in this position and waited for the dems to fix it... then when he realized they weren't going to do anything about it either, that's when he decided to speak up...

Thats the way i took it too. My impression was that this guy wants to work but isn't being allowed too.

So then quit and go look for work like everybody else.

It's a simple concept, you don't like what the company has you doing, go find a better job.

I was leaning towards number 2 also.. the economy has everybody looking at thier budgets.. where are the productive employees, where are the unproductive employees.

My sense of it that in these troubled times, he's an easy termination for economic reasons and he has to raise a stink so they don't mess with him..

Just a guess.... But I think a good one.

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In a January 2002 settlement in his suit, he was guaranteed state employment as a director of investigations.

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all depends, if he was guaranteed that job for life,, then he's got nothing to worry about. But if not, then he may be thinking time is up or close to it.

Sooner or later, if him having that job is as a result of some claim he won 10 years ago, then someone somewhere is gonna figure the debt is paid. 90K a year for 10 years is 900k... for doing virtually nothing.. the mans debt it paid.

But like I said in another post.. if it were me, this is simple.. STOP not giving him work to do.. Make him earn it. Fill his calender up with stuff.. if he does a good job,, Terrific. you know you have a good employee,,,,

If he flops,, you know you got a slug.... and you also have every reason to kick him to the curb as unproductive.

UNLESS, he starts something that ends up in another lawsuit that keeps him employed for another 10 years.

Saddest part of this, if he's got that title and salary and they won't give him work to do, someone else that is capable is sitting on the streets looking for work.

That makes me sad.

I will do what he does, from my own home for half the money and benefits. I may even sublet the job to friends and others in need out of my own pocket then.

Assemblyman Joseph Morelle, D-Monroe County, and Sen. Neil Breslin, D-Bethlehem, said they were flabbergasted after reading the tale of Randall Hinton, the Insurance Fund's Albany branch employee with the title of director of investigations. A story in the Times Union Thursday detailed how Hinton is paid nearly $94,000 a year but laments that he has done no meaningful work since 1999 and nothing for the past three years. Hinton blamed his superiors for denying his requests for duties commensurate with his qualifications because he was being punished for suing their colleagues. As a result, Hinton said he has languished in an out-of-the way office without any work for three straight years. Amid millions of layoffs nationwide, the article sparked widespread interest after being listed on the Drudge Report. It has drawn hundreds of thousands of visits to the Times Union's Web site. Comments on the site have ranged from some supporting Hinton for going public and saying they suffer from hostile work circumstances to many sharply critical of a man with a good paying job complaining about anything.

Hinton said he sits with his feet up on his desk and watches cars go by on I-90, listens to his iPod and reads every day.


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"I want some answers," said Breslin, a lawyer who said he was measuring his words carefully. "I'll talk to Joe (Morelle) first and ask for some responses from the parties involved and if we're not satisfied we'll call a hearing. We would want responses from the parties involved."

Morelle said he knows Insurance Fund Chairman Robert H. Hurlbut well and will be calling him first, but he will also seek information from Executive Director David Wehner about Hinton's situation.

"The suggestion that he hasn't done anything for 10 years, I don't have the words to describe how disturbing that is," said Morelle, who is also a private businessman near Rochester. "Unbelievable."

He said he doesn't want to jump to conclusions but if necessary he would conduct a full blown investigation. "It sounds almost too fantastic to be true," Morelle said.

Hinton said he did not want to comment at this time because he is seeking a lawyer.

Robert Lawson, a spokesman for the Insurance Fund, maintained Hinton has an assignment as supervisor of an injury report program, although Hinton and his former boss have said the program was disbanded about three years ago. Even before then, the assignment was very light duty, Hinton and his former boss said.

Hinton has objected to being denied the work associated with an investigations director and the tools to do the job. He said he has sought opportunities for advancement and has been ignored.

His post at the Insurance Department was provided him through a settlement of a lawsuit he lodged a decade ago against the Department of Environmental Conservation, where he had served as director of investigations. He said he was required to work in a storage closet for two years before the suit. His discrimination suit settlement called for him to get a similar title and said that he would supervise personnel at the Insurance Fund, which sells workers' compensation and disability insurance policies to private businesses.

A Native American, Hinton, 55, with 27 years of state service, alleges in a new Division of Human Rights complaint that he is being discriminated against and is suffering from retaliation. He asserts that Republicans at the helm of the Insurance Fund are blackballing him for having sued officials in the Pataki administration, from which they came, a claim that his former boss backs up.

The Insurance Fund's top posts come with nine-year appointments, allowing them to hold jobs for years beyond Gov. George Pataki's December 2006 departure.

For instance, Wehner's post expires in January 2015.

Breslin and Morelle said the length of the terms may need to be modified. "That's incredibly long," Morelle said.

As for Hinton seeking a post as director of fraud investigations, a position already occupied by an appointee making $140,000 a year, Lawson said: "I'd like to be PR for the New York Yankees too. I do not put any credence in this business that people who worked for the Pataki administration are trying to keep him down."

Asked if Hinton is doing any work, Lawson said: "I have to assume he is."

Gov. David Paterson's spokesman had no comment and after being pressed, Lawson called from the Insurance Fund with the following statement: "NYSIF does not tolerate the type of behavior described in Thursday's Times Union story. Such behavior would violate our longstanding policy against fraud, waste and abuse. Mr. Hinton had definite duties and responsibilities and we intend to investigate the matter and take all appropriate steps to address the situation."

Lawson said he expects there will be "continuing discussions with him" and that public disclosure may be limited because of the action Hinton has filed against the Insurance Fund.

Hurlbut was unavailable, but board member Denis Hughes, president of the New York AFL-CIO, said he was unaware of the work concerns involving Hinton, a non-union employee with a civil service protection on his post, until told about it by a reporter. He said Hinton should use the proper channels to resolve his complaints.

James M. Odato can be reached at 454-5083 and jodato@timesunion.com.
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2009/02/07/3971491.htm

I still say the guy should have kept his mouth shut, and listed all his good points on his resume if he wanted to move up. Hey he has never been late, never missed a day, and has never been written up or even given a warning in all the years he held the position. All those years and he has a perfect record

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he has done no meaningful work since 1999

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Sounds like the Browns.

Anoth 40 years and he could tie the U.S. Governments record

Geez FF,, what the heck was that? LOL

anyway, sounds like something is about to hit the fan....