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Gassman said she was not happy with the process used to hire Daniel LaRocque as the top unemployment insurance lawyer and has taken steps to make sure similar errors are not repeated. At the same time, she denied the hiring was influenced by politics.
"I believe there were errors made in not following department personnel policies," Gassman told The Associated Press in a phone interview.
A hearing examiner ruled last year that LaRocque got the job because of his political connections to former Gov. Tony Earl, a Democrat who served from 1983 to 1987. Two candidates who were passed over were recently paid $346,000 to settle claims of favoritism.
The hearing examiner found LaRocque had no experience in unemployment insurance law or state government when he was hired in 2005 but did have political ties. LaRocque's uncle is a retired judge who is friends with Earl; another relative, Ruth LaRocque, worked under Earl. Earl said he has known Daniel LaRocque "since he was a youngster."
At LaRocque's request, Earl called unemployment insurance administrator Hal Bergan to put in a good word for him during the hiring process. Bergan was Earl's policy director in the 1980s and had the final say on who to hire.
After receiving Earl's call, hearing examiner Lauri Millot said Bergan took steps to help LaRocque get the $108,000 per year job and violated numerous department policies along the way.
Among other things, Millot found he did not perform the required reference checks on LaRocque, he asked questions that would help LaRocque and disadvantage other candidates and he did not include minorities on the interview panel.
Gassman said the department disputed some of Millot's findings but decided to settle the cases brought by two rejected applicants on the advice of the attorney general's office.
Jorge Fuentes, a 20-year department veteran who is an enforcement attorney in the unemployment insurance division, was given a $300,000 settlement and a raise. Robert Junceau, who has been an administrative law judge in the unemployment insurance division since 1992, received a $24,000 settlement and a raise.
Gassman had refused to discuss the case last week when the AP first reported on it but she decided to give an interview Friday afternoon. She, too, worked under Earl in the 1980s but said she was in no way involved with LaRocque's hiring.
Gassman said the errors made by Bergan and other employees were not intentional, and a lack of familiarity with personnel practices was to blame. Bergan has testified he was not aware of some of the policies he violated.
Gassman said the department has strengthened its personnel training for all managers responsible for hiring and created a check list that lists steps they must follow when making hiring decisions.
"When we knew we had issues, we took steps to ensure there was absolute clarity about the importance of our personnel practices and following them," she said. "We are a department that has been honored as one of the top large departments in the state for diversity in our employment. We're proud of that. I want to see that continue."
Despite his inexperience, Gassman said LaRocque has received two positive performance evaluations during his time with the agency.
