High court: Loss of pension not unreasonable for Quincy city worker

By Globe Staff

A former Quincy city worker who broke into City Hall in hopes of cleaning up his personnel file can be stripped of his pension because of his crimes, the state’s highest court ruled today.

Ralph J. Maher, the former chief plumbing and gas inspector, argued that stripping him of his pension was an excessive punishment -- forbidden by the Eighth Amendment -- for his convictions of breaking and entering in the daytime with intent to commit a felony, stealing in a building, and wanton destruction of property.

But the Supreme Judicial Court, affirming a decision by a lower court judge, said today that the city retirement’s board decision to remove Maher’s pension wasn’t unreasonable.

The court said Maher was convicted of serious crimes, rejecting Maher’s argument that the harm he had caused by his December 2001 break-in was minimal -- simply the cost of repairing a damaged office door.

The court noted that Maher stood to gain $125,000 in salary from his unsuccessful effort to improve his file and be reappointed by the mayor-elect for two years.

“Furthermore,” the court said, “we view the potential harm to the public trust caused by Maher’s actions as equally important to our analysis as any potential harm his actions might have caused to the public fisc.”

“The District Court judge concluded that Maher’s crimes could have undermined public confidence in the selection and appointment of officials to supervisory positions. We agree,” said the opinion, which was written by Justice Roderick Ireland.

• Comment
• Permalink
• Email