Audit: Director must pay for work missed

The Suffolk County Ethics Commission director must pay back $22,894 in wages and benefits he did not earn because he was working part-time in a job that was supposed to be full-time, a county comptroller's audit says.

"We uncovered a sweetheart arrangement in which the director was allowed to work part-time while receiving full-time health benefits at taxpayers' expense," Comptroller Joseph Sawicki said in an interview. "No other county employee has this arrangement."

In written responses to the comptroller, the director, Alfred Lama, and County Attorney Christine Malafi disputed the audit findings.

Lama said in his written response that he accepted the job in 2004 with the understanding that he could continue his outside work.

However, in February 2004 Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy said in his state-of-the-county address that the job would be full-time.

The audit, released Monday, said Lama "unilaterally" converted his position into part-time so he could continue a private arbitration practice.

Lama did not return calls for comment Monday. In a statement Monday night, Malafi, who signed Lama's time sheets until January, said, "Judge Lama was not paid for one minute of time he did not work."

The audit said the reporting was flawed.

Under the county contract, only employees working more than half time -- defined as more than half of a 37.5-hour workweek -- are entitled to county health insurance. Auditors found that Lama worked less than half time in 86 separate weeks. Although Malafi said Lama was viewed as management, he is a member of the county union and attended union orientation, the audit said.

In her response, Malafi said she was told to sign Lama's time sheets, but she did not say who told her office that. In January the county Legislature removed the commission from the law department, and Malafi stopped signing Lama's time sheets, according to the audit.

Lama, 78, has served as commission director since December 2004. Records obtained by Newsday through Freedom of Information requests show he has not worked full-time since 2005.

As a retired Supreme Court judge, he collects a pension of $68,071 and is entitled to retiree health benefits for a premium. As commission director, he collects a salary of $81,077 and family health insurance at no cost.

The audit said it found "no direct oversight" by the Ethics Commission of Lama's hours and that he stopped using sign-in sheets in 2006. It also said the county law department failed to notify the county's employee benefits union of Lama's part-time status.

In a June 30 letter to Sawicki, commission chairman Thomas Nolan said the commission was "unable to supervise the director's time and attendance." He said in the letter that he has been signing Lama's time sheets based on his job responsibilities and "my knowledge of Judge Lama's reputation for honesty and integrity."