Massport's lavish payouts

While the Romney administration has criticized excessive sick time payouts at the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, another agency the governor controls, the Massachusetts Port Authority, has paid more than $6.2 million to departing employees for unused sick time over the past five years.

The payments were made under an unusually generous policy that allows retiring employees to cash out 100 percent of their unused sick days, far more than the 20 percent to which other state employees are entitled . Massport workers who leave the agency but do not retire are reimbursed for 50 percent of their sick days.

Massport employees accumulate 15 sick days a year, and the agency has cut checks for as much as $201,000 to longtime employees, according to a Globe review of Massport records.

Robert Dursin , for example, served as the Massport budget director at a salary of $110,000 a year. When he retired in 2003, he had 475 unused sick days accumulated over 35 years. That gave Dursin a $201,000 windfall.

Even Craig P. Coy , who was Massport's executive director for just over four years, pocketed a check for almost $28,000 on his way out the door, courtesy of the little-publicized sick time policy.

In the five years examined by the Globe, 287 employees received a total of $6.2 million from Massport for 24,850 unused sick days. Had they been compensated according to the sick time policy that covers the vast majority of state employees, only $1.1 million would have been paid out.

The payments are funded by tolls collected at the Tobin Bridge and other fees paid at Logan Airport.

Compensation for unused sick time is a benefit that is rarely given in the private sector.

After the Globe began asking Massport for data on the sick time policy last week, Thomas J. Kinton Jr. , the Massport executive director, called Romney's office to inform him of the long-standing sick time policy -- and that questions were being asked about it, a Romney aide said.

Eric Fehrnstrom , spokesman for Romney, on Friday afternoon said Kinton's call was the first the governor's office had heard of the policy.

``It's an outrageous and overly generous policy," Fehrnstrom said. `` Governor Romney made his views clear to Tom Kinton."

Romney told Kinton that he expected the Massport policy to be quickly revised to cap the percentage of sick days that can be cashed in at 20 percent -- the norm in state agencies. The next Massport board meeting is Oct. 19.

Kinton, a Massport executive for 30 years who earns $255,000 and would be affected by any change in policy, did not respond to phone messages left at his office Friday. In response to Globe questions, Danny Levy , a Massport spokeswoman, said the policy was adopted more than 30 years ago to help the agency ``attract qualified professionals."

Levy said the policy had been reviewed ``from time to time" by the agency's chief executive officer and the board of directors, but said she had no further information, and could not say whether Coy reviewed or considered changing the policy during his tenure at Massport.

Another former executive director, Virginia Buckingham , who led the agency for just 24 months, received $5,850 for unused sick days after she was ousted from her job in 2001.

Levy said Massport's approximately 1,600 employees, most of whom are in administrative or managerial jobs, are well aware of the policy.

``We definitely have a nice, generous sick time policy," she said.

Employees are entitled to cash in unused sick days as long as they have been with Massport at least two years. Those with 20 years of service, or 10 years at the age of 55 or above, can retire and receive compensation for 100 percent of the days. Those who leave but do not meet the requirements for retirement are paid for 50 percent of the days. Most other state agencies pay nothing to non-retiring employees.

Fehrnstrom said Romney and other top officials in his administration were unaware of the Massport policy, even though four of the seven Massport board members are Romney appointees, including Ranch Kimball, Romney's former economic development secretary who has been on the board since 2005.

``I was unaware of the policy until I got a call this morning," Kimball said Friday. ``I don't know any of the details of the Massport policy, but I do know it's a whole lot better than what I get as an ordinary state employee."

The issue of sick time exploded into public view last month when the Romney administration, having forced Matthew J. Amorello to resign as Turnpike chairman, publicized the turnpike authority's policy as an example of Amorello's mismanagement.

On July 7, Amorello unilaterally and without public notice sweetened the agency's sick time policy, increasing the percentage of sick days that Turnpike managers and administrative staffers could cash in from 20 percent to 50 percent. Amorello at the same time extended the benefit beyond retiring employees to those who were resigning from the Turnpike.

Seven Turnpike employees took advantage of the revised policy before it was repealed last month by John Cogliano, Romney's secretary of transportation. Five of the workers were retiring from the agency, and together received $133,163 more than they would have had Amorello not changed the policy. The biggest beneficiary, Marie Hayman , the Turnpike chief of staff who worked closely with Amorello, gained an extra $34,248 with the stroke of Amorello's pen.

The two employees in the group who resigned were entitled to nothing before Amorello acted. As a result of his revisions, one received $12,567 and the other $4,312.

But even the now repealed policy at the Turnpike seems modest compared with the one at Massport. No other agency in state government is as liberal in its sick time compensation as Massport.

Last month, for example, Jessie Chen , the Massport comptroller, retired and received $137,808 for 301 days of unused sick time accrued during 28 years at Massport. If Chen had retired under the policy most state employees are covered by, which caps sick time compensation at 20 percent, she would have received $27,562.

Also this year, Stanley Phillips , the utilities manager, received $127,519 for his 346 days of unused sick time, and Salvatore Demetrios , an electrical foreman, cashed in his 389 days for $123,318. Under the 20 percent policy, Phillips would have received $25,503 and Demetrios $24,663.

During his four-year tenure at Massport, Coy accumulated 58 unused sick days, good for $27,980, according to records. Coy arrived at Massport with a mandate to take patronage and politics out of Massport. A message left on his cellphone was not returned.

``It makes no sense to pay someone because they are lucky enough not to be out sick with cancer or the flu," said Barbara Anderson , executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation, an advocacy group. It's simple greed -- another public sector method to grab all the salary and benefits they can get without getting caught."

Sean P. Murphy's e-mail is smurphy@globe.com.