Tim Dunn
Ma. State Auditor Diana DiZoglio says she will be suing Massport after releasing the findings of an audit into settlement agreements across 21 state agencies, finding that they entered into 263 agreements totaling roughly $6.8 million in taxpayer funds over a five-year span.
The auditor also on Wednesday highlighted what she calls a growing problem on Beacon Hill of a willingness to defy legally authorized audits.
“Up on Beacon Hill, those in power seem to be feeling a bit emboldened to keep pushing to see how much they can get away with withholding [information] under the law,” DiZolglio told reporters at a Wednesday press conference.
The audit focused on non-disclosure and non-disparagement agreements and similar clauses used by the state agencies that were examined, including colleges and universities, constitutional offices and independent and quasi-state agencies.
“Perhaps the most concerning out of these agreements was a $1.375 million taxpayer funded settlement executed by Massport in 2022,” DiZoglio said. “That settlement utilized confidentiality and non-disparagement language, concealing a host of allegations. These allegations include gender-based discrimination, disability-based discrimination, unequal pay, disparaged treatment, and publishing false and damaging statements.”
DiZoglio went on to explain that during the audit of Massport, Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office and Massport “improperly shared sensitive information about the audit with their employees and retirees who were not involved in the audit, jeopardizing the integrity of the process.” She says both the AG’s office and Massport obstructed her access to personnel records, which she says she has legal access to according to state law.
When it comes to other state agencies, the audit found widespread inconsistencies in how employee settlements are managed, with 19 of the 21 agencies audited not having written policies in place detailing how such agreements should be approved, documented, retained and tracked.
The audit also discovered that Bridgewater State University, Bunker Hill Community College, Fitchburg State University, Greenfield Community College, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and the Office of the Commissioner of Probation failed to report 13 settlement agreements to the Comptroller’s Office, as required by state regulations.
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