As he tells it, Randall Hinton is paid $93,803 a year to do nothing. He spends much of his workday at the State Insurance Fund donning headphones, listening to rock ‘n’ roll, blues or classical tunes and his superiors are cool with that. His work agenda involves placing his feet up on his desk, staring out his office window and counting cars on the New York State Thruway. He arrives at 7:30 a.m., leaves at 3:30 p.m., sees no one and talks to no one.
He never does any work. It’s been this way for Hinton for most of this decade.
“I just sit here,” said Hinton, 55, of Niskayuna, a 27-year state employee who has held several high-level posts at various agencies. At 6 feet 4 inches and 265 pounds he is an imposing figure who will begin to tear up when he discusses his situation. A member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe in Maine, he said he is being discriminated against because of his national origin and retaliated against for having sued the state. Since February 2002, Hinton has been director of investigations for the Insurance Fund, but he said he has never been allowed to investigate anything. Instead, he builds up pension credits, year after year, but is unproductive at work because his superiors are blackballing him, he and his former boss say. Hinton contends he is without portfolio as retaliation for suing Gov. George Pataki’s administration 10 years ago, alleging discrimination then, too. That was after getting stuck in a storeroom for two years for refusing to leave his post at the Department of Environmental Conservation heading investigations to make room for a Republican appointee, he said.
In a January 2002 settlement in his suit against then-DEC Commissioner John Cahill (who later became Pataki’s top deputy) and then-Assistant DEC Commissioner James W. Tuffey (now Albany’s police chief) he was guaranteed state employment as a director of investigations. “We didn’t offer to settle, they did,” said Tuffey. “They said just transfer him.”
Hinton said he’s treated as a second-class employee with fewer resources than even the lowliest Insurance Fund worker. “I have no Internet access, no printer, no laptop, no car. Every day it’s a struggle for me to bring in something I haven’t read or listened to. I can tell you how many white cars pass on the Thruway . . . I can’t take it anymore.”
On the surface it sounds like a great gig…but I’m sure it isn’t.
He should bring in a laptop, hook into the unsecured wi-fi and start a “home based business”. He needs to get creative.
WTF?! Okay according to his story he’s paid to be made fun of because he’s an Indian as far as I can tell.
Race Card Privileges revoked.
Only in Government! I’d think it wouldn’t be hard to sue again for failure to assign work. Should have lots of jury appeal unless he just comes off as a flake. Most people who have been abused by our legal system too often sound like flakes. Abuse will do that to a good man.
The gutless wonder should quit and find a real job if he’s not just a worthless twit.
If the state did that to me, I’d get myself a correspondence course or some damn thing and get a couple degrees. The state probably pays for that, too.
Life gives ya lemons…screw them in return.
#1, Cow=Patty,
Only someone with the mental capacity of you would suggest that. Unauthorized access by an unauthorized computer would be grounds for dismissal.
And you want us to think you are a CEO.
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
I love it, where do I apply for that job! But really folks their are plenty of these kind of jobs in America. You really think CEO’s don’t spend countless hours of free time doing nothing company related. Government just makes it easier because nobody cares. Even our Congressional people ignore taxes because they think their above the law. Its a perk I guess.
#5, Mr. Baggins,
I agree, he would have a lot of time to study. The hard part would be getting his superiors to sign off.
Can I have his job???? I’d sleep all day at work and hack all night at home. It’s a dream job.
You would think eventually the racist scumbags would all die off, but somehow the world just keeps producing more. Guess it is easier to hate than to let on how insecure and inadequate they are. Pity them but don’t allow them.
# 6 Mr. Fusion said, “Only someone with the mental capacity of you would suggest that. Unauthorized access by an unauthorized computer would be grounds for dismissal.”
You’re such a moron. If he got fired for that, an unlawful term lawsuit would bring up all this crap. The agency would never go there. Of course, you having ZERO exec experience wouldn’t know that.
LOL
The article makes it sound like both sides are to blame. he sounds like he’s a bit unusual and they just decided to pull an Office Space and put him somewhere so bad they hope he quits rather than go through the hassle of finding a legitimate reasons to fire him.
10,
Actually Paddy-O, if there is a Employee Acceptable Use Policy, which there most certainly is, I can guarantee there will be a redline item in there that claims no outside equipment / unauthorized access / use. And with that he’d be gone.
Of course, most employee AUP’s are designed to give HR / management an opportunity to fire someone… They aren’t “real-time” documents since the ammount of effort required to monitor every employees per/second activities would be as great as China’s great firewall.
Just sayin… But, I guess at your company anyone can do anything with any computer on any wireless network they find.
# 12 Named said, “Actually Paddy-O, if there is a Employee Acceptable Use Policy, which there most certainly is, I can guarantee there will be a redline item in there that claims no outside equipment / unauthorized access / use. And with that he’d be gone.”
Irrelevant. The point isn’t that they couldn’t fire him. The point is that it would be suicide to fire him and let him get his day in court.
Stay away from HR mgmnt. You’d BK a company.
He could probably just bring a laptop and write a book. Who needs Internet access for that? If he can bring books to read and listen to music, then he could probably bring a small netbook in.
Fucking hell! Talking about no gumption at all! Office space + $94k a year with nothing to do = start about 1 million businesses!!!!
Or, as said above, write a book … or articles … or use that £94k pa to buy a laptop and learn to programme …..
wait a second … it all makes sense … there are certainly prolific posters on here … ya, must be it ….
Ummm,
Sounds like every one here has taken a couple whacks with the “haven’t got a clue stick”
It seems the guy is being punished for being a whistleblower (which is also against the law). He didn’t play ball with his politically appointed bosses, so they put him in a closet to rot. If he quits he loses his state pension funds and if he takes a pay cut for a lesser position, they effectively fined him and hurt him financially for standing up to them.
If they settled out of court, then what they were doing was clearly illegal and they figured they couldn’t win. Rather than man up and let him do his job, they are trying to push him out. Sounds like he is doing exactly what he should do, coming to work every day and telling them to suck it by letting the press know what they are up to.
REMEMBER,
this is a STATE job.
hard enough getting a STATE job, ANd a GOOD paying state job is even HARDER to get.
57, and HE decides to QUIT?? BEFORE 30 years of retirement funds are CREATED??
THAT would be FOOLISH.
13,
They can’t fire him because he hasn’t done anything wrong. If he violated a policy, there would be no recourse for him to fight back. He’d just come off as being a sore loser.
# 19 Named said, “If he violated a policy, there would be no recourse for him to fight back. ”
Like I said, stay away from HR Exec positions. Or, better yet. Get hired into HR at a public company, let me know which one so I can short the stock and makes tons as you get the company sued out of existence.
No Internet access? That would suck.
20,
You know Paddy-O, for a so called CEO you sure spend a lot of time on this blog. In fact, there isn’t an hour in the day you’re not on here spouting about your superiority and knowledge… I guess when you live in your moms basement, you can be the CEO of the furnace and larder.
“MOMMY! We need more Ragu!”
“OK snookums! I’ll pick some up at the store for you!”
“I’M THE CEO!!!!”
#22, Named,
So well put, that gave me a good laugh.
#16 “wait a second … it all makes sense … there are certainly prolific posters on here … ya, must be it ….”
Are you saying we finally know who Paddy-O is?
#13, Cow-Patty,
You don’t get it. If they fire him for disobeying the rules, he doesn’t have a leg to stand on. That is called “willful” or “at fault” termination. What they are doing, as several posts have pointed out, is called “constructive termination”. It is very rare that an employee can overturn a willful termination.
Constructive terminations, on the other hand, are overturned quite often. They are usually predicated upon a retaliatory action by the employer. Situations include age discrimination, health and safety issues, and workers compensation.
Your popcycle stand does pay into Workers Compensation, don’t they?
# 25 Mr. Fusion said, “You don’t get it. If they fire him for disobeying the rules, he doesn’t have a leg to stand on. That is called “willful” or “at fault” termination. ”
You don’t “get” the 4 needed elements of misconduct…
Let me know when you’ve won a few cases in front of a judge..
Until then, go work for a publicly traded company and tell us so people here know what to short…
Fuck tonto…hes lucky he gets a fucking paycheck…runs around suing folks because they wont kiss his ass because he’s part indian or some shit. Worthless ass democrat no doubt…
Did Paddy-O just give himself away? Is he the head of a failed corp that had to fight a wrongful dismissal suit against a “female” employee who refused his advances?
#26, Cow-Patty,
You don’t get it. Those four elements”? They are what the employee must prove the employer did in order to have his claim justified. Fail at one and he is out the door without a leg to stand on.
Apparently you are posing again.
How are the popcycles doing? sell any in this weather?
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DREAM JOB…sign me up.
He should have kept his mouth shut and not publicized this.
Can’t find things to do? He must be a dullard.
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