The Boston Water and Sewer Commission has been in “extensive contact” with union representatives whose membership expressed concerns with the “severe” allegations leveled against the agency’s human resources director in two lawsuits.
The Commission confirmed it was in discussions with union representatives in regards to the concerns they raised about HR director Marie Theodat in a letter sent to BWSC Executive Director Henry Vitale last Friday, but did not elaborate as to whether it will heed the unions’ request to investigate and suspend Theodat.
“BWSC has been in extensive contact with union representatives and we have no further comment at this time,” Dolores Randolph, a spokesperson for the Commission, said in a Monday statement.
Three unions representing BWSC employees, SEIU Local 888, IAM Local 100, and OPEIU Local 6, mentioned in their letter that membership had expressed concerns with Theodat, as HR director, having continued access to their sensitive information, such as banking numbers, routing information and social security numbers — in light of allegations raised in two separate lawsuits filed against her in Suffolk Superior Court.
Their letter called for that information to be “entrusted to the legal department at BWSC, until the senior HR director in question be placed on administrative leave pending the conclusion of an internal investigation or the resolution of this civil matter.”
Thomas McKeever, president of SEIU Local 888, declined to comment on the ongoing talks on Monday.
“Honestly, if this were our members, they would sincerely be terminated,” McKeever told the Herald Saturday. “We would have to grieve it, and then they would be out on unpaid administrative leave. We feel as though these allegations are so severe that the Boston Water and Sewer leadership should take some type of action.
“We’re flabbergasted that this particular individual is just walking around and it’s just business as usual — we’re confused,” McKeever said, adding, “I’ve never seen so many allegations pile up.”
Theodat is accused in a 2020 lawsuit of stiffing a woman out of a $75,000 mortgage loan, allegations that became public in a Herald report last Friday — just a week after the Herald first reported that Theodat is embroiled in a new lawsuit that alleges she worked with relatives to swindle her elderly, dementia-ridden uncle out of his home.
The most recent complaint — filed in Suffolk Superior Court on Aug. 20 — alleges that Theodat “fraudulently induced” the plaintiff, 88-year-old Rodolphe St. Cloud, to sign over the deed to his $1.1 million Dorchester home for “less than $100,” under the “guise” that he was signing documents related to his medical care. St. Cloud does not read or speak English, but rather Haitian Creole.
Mayor Michelle Wu’s office did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Theodat’s annual salary at the Boston Water and Sewer Commission is roughly $189,958, per a BWSC spokesperson. She called the Aug. 20 complaint “fraudulent” in a prior phone call with the Herald, and denied borrowing the $75,000 from the plaintiff in the 2020 lawsuit, according to prior court documents.
