The newly hired $185,000-per-year Plymouth County administrator has filed a lawsuit against his bosses, claiming he hasn’t been paid since he started work in August.
Troy Clarkson, who took the post after leaving his $200,000-per-year job as Brockton’s chief financial officer, says he is being denied the pay and benefits that the county agreed to in August.
His lawsuit is the latest salvo in an ongoing feud between the county commissioners — who made the controversial hire — and County Treasurer Thomas O’Brien, who is challenging the three-year contract as exorbitant and improper.
The bizarre saga is rife with allegations of temper tantrums, a sweetheart deal and illegality.
“I just want to come to work and continue to do my job,” Clarkson told the Independent in a text Friday.
The controversy began to unfold in May after the county commissioners posted the job with a salary range of $100,000 to $124,000, an amount already set aside in the county budget.
But in August, two of the three county commissioners voted to hire Clarkson at a salary more than $60,000 per year above the posted maximum. In addition, they decided to give him a three-year guaranteed contract and permit him to hold outside jobs as a consultant, professor and author.
O’Brien almost immediately challenged the contract as excessive, filing a lawsuit against the county commission, and asking a Plymouth Superior Court judge to scuttle the deal.
He alleged the deal violated the state’s Open Meeting Law and illegally exceeded the budgeted amount for the job.
O’Brien said the “unprecedented” salary was not in the budget, and to make up for the shortfall, two other county employees had to be fired, including one who had been in training to take over the administrator job.
Neither former employee could be reached for comment.
“It was a sweetheart deal,” said County Commissioner Jared Valanzola, the dissenting vote in the 2-1 decision to hire Clarkson on Aug. 12.
Valanzola, who is named as one of three defendants in O’Brien’s suit, said that during the interview process, he couldn’t understand why Clarkson, paid $200,000 annually in Brockton, would apply for a job offering only $124,000.
He told the Independent that when he saw the terms of the compensation package being awarded, he quickly realized it was “clearly an inside job” orchestrated by his two fellow commissioners — Gregory Hanley and Sandra Wright.
Hanley did not return messages asking for comment on this report but has previously told the Independent he and Wright were simply hiring the most qualified candidate and the county has enough in surplus funds to handle the enhanced pay.
Wright, who lost her bid for re-election in September, did not return messages seeking comment.
As O’Brien’s lawsuit makes its way through civil court, Clarkson now says he is caught in the middle and enduring financial hardship while waiting to be paid.
Clarkson told the Independent he will continue showing up for work despite “the politics of personal destruction coming from the treasurer’s office.”
“This temper tantrum from the treasurer is costing the county tens of thousands — perhaps ultimately hundreds of thousands — of dollars in legal fees,” Clarkson said in response to questions. “The real question is why the treasurer is wasting public money on legal fees that could be spent on providing regional services to the county’s 27 communities.”
Clarkson’s contract guarantees his pay through June 30, 2029, even if he is fired before then.
His lawsuit — filed in Plymouth Superior Court against the county commissioners and O’Brien — seeks the full amount of the contract, three years of pay and benefits, plus triple damages and attorney’s fees, amounts to be determined later.
His lawyer, Edward Pietnik Jr., alleged 10 violations of law, including breach of contract, violation of the state’s Wage Act and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Valanzola blamed the “chaotic leadership” of his fellow commissioners, who did not respond when O’Brien first challenged Clarkson’s appointment.
“We had an obligation to respond,” he said. “The chair (Wright) chose instead to ignore it. Their negligent behavior once again has exposed the county and its taxpayers to potential liability.”
He said he is hopeful that whoever wins a commission seat in November — Democrat Rhonda Nyman or Republican Anthony O’Brien — will help the board “restore stability and respect” when he or she takes office in January.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.