State worker fired amid accusations of double-dipping Tuesday, August 12, 2008 By Jill Bryce (Contact) Gazette Reporter
ALBANY — A state employee has been fired and his case referred to the Albany County District Attorney's office after an investigation determined he was paid more than $18,000 by the state for days when he was absent and working as a private consultant. Larry Ritter, affirmative action and equal employment opportunity officer for the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, was fired Monday after state Inspector General Joseph Fisch claimed in a report that Ritter conducted 40 private training programs from 2003 to 2007 during the state workday while falsely reporting on his time sheets that he was doing OTDA work. In addition, he worked without OTDA permission, a violation of agency policy. OTDA had denied Ritter permission to conduct the private trainings, because the work was "virtually identical" to his OTDA job. Fisch said Ritter may be prosecuted for fraud, larceny and official misconduct. Ritter, 52, earned $87,383 a year training OTDA's 2,300 employees regarding sexual harassment and diversity matters out of the Albany office. He is also the husband of Diane Jones Ritter, commissioner of the state Office of Mental Retardation and Disabilities Services.
Husband of top aide fired in pay scam State says false claims filed by man married to commissioner
By JAMES M. ODATO, Capitol bureau First published: Wednesday, August 13, 2008
ALBANY -- The husband of a commissioner in Gov. David Paterson's administration has been fired from his $87,838-a-year job after a state investigation found he took nearly $20,000 by claiming pay for time he did not work. Investigators from the state Inspector General's Office gave their case against Larry Ritter, 52, of Niskayuna to the Albany County District Attorney's Office on Tuesday for possible prosecution.
State investigators said Ritter put in for 48 days of pay when he was absent and allegedly earning income elsewhere as a consultant.
State officials, however, said Tuesday they found no wrongdoing against Office of Mental Retardation and Disabilities Services Commissioner Diana Jones Ritter.
Larry Ritter was fired Monday from his post as an equal employment opportunity officer and affirmative action officer at the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. He had worked at the office since February 1987.
Inspector General Joseph Fisch described Ritter's behavior as a pattern of fraud and misconduct that spanned from at least June 2003 to December 2007. Fisch's investigators said when Ritter was questioned about his time sheets by a superior, he essentially told the manager to stay out of his affairs.
The agency's report was forwarded to the Albany County district attorney's office. Richard Arthur, director of administration for the prosecutor, said the case is "under review."
"Our agency takes these findings seriously and we have no tolerance for such violations of the public trust. Mr. Ritter has been terminated effective immediately," said Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance Commissioner David Hansell, who had referred concerns about Larry Ritter to the inspector general almost a year ago.
The alleged crimes, based on the submission of false time sheets, resulted in what would amount to grand larceny because Ritter took $18,813 in pay for days he didn't show up for his state job, the inspector general said.
Instead of working for the state, Ritter was conducting seminars -- harassment workshops -- at area schools and businesses, sometimes with an employee of the Governor's Office of Employee Relations, Roxanne Wright, who appropriately charged her time away from her state job.
Wright's outside work required prior approval, however. She resigned her job, which carried an $85,000 salary, in June.
Ritter is also accused of violating his agency's rules by doing the same type of work he was hired to do for the state as a consultant, starting in 2003, and as his own private operator by creating Diversity Solutions, starting in 2006. His total state compensation, including salary of $87,838, was $89,719 in 2007.
Ritter's lawyer, William Dreyer, did not return a call.
The inspector general's investigation found that Commissioner Diana Jones Ritter was unaware of her husband's outside activities and time away from his state job.
Diana Jones Ritter said the matter has resulted in a tough time for "me and my family." She said she intends to focus on her work with the state while privately addressing the issues raised in the investigative report. M. Odato can be reached at 454-5083 or by e-mail at jodato@timesunion.com.
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