East Haven Assessor Under Investigation For 'Workplace Issues'

EAST HAVEN, CT —For three decades, Michael Milici has been the East Haven assessor. Earlier this month, town officials placed Milici on paid administrative leave pending the results of an investigation, that, in part, is examining claims that employees under his supervision worked overtime and were not paid for that extra time, which is required under state and federal law.

After a Freedom of Information Act request, Patch was provided with the letter given to Milici from East Haven director of administration Ray Baldwin. The letter notes that Milici is also being investigated for other "workplace issues," though the letter does not describe what those matters are.

Milici was told that he must not to report to work, perform any work or conduct any business for the town, and not "retaliate against any Town employee" or "hinder or attempt to hinder the investigation and/or influence the statements made by employees if interviewed." He's also prohibited from "speaking about anything related to this investigation to individuals who may be interviewed or anyone in the Mayor’s administration, including the Mayor. "

In a Board of Finance meeting that was not recorded by the town but minutes of which show and a Facebook post of the Zoom meeting video confirms, Milici said the two full-time staffers have had to work overtime for which they were not paid.

Milici read from his letter to the board where he asks that the board restore a clerk position from part-time to full-time. He said the department's "work load was skewed due to COVID-19," over the past year and that a full-time person is needed to handle the influx of calls to the assessor's department, and said that given 2021 is a revaluation year, he urged the board to restore the post to full-time. He said the revaluation will cost $327,000 and he expects a "marked increase" in work load to complete the reval by January 2022.

"This is the worst time possible for reducing staff," he said, and it's a "critical time" for the assessor's office.

Milici said staffers have been "stressed to the limit" and noted that two staff members have worked additional hours to get work done "without pay," adding "morale-wise this will be very detrimental."

Michelle Benivegna, the assistant director of administration and the town's human resources director, said she was never told staffers were so overworked they needed to work overtime and then were not paid for that time.

"We were never made aware," she said adding that it was a "concern" as it was the "first time hearing" about the issue.

"The Carfora administration has supported overtime requests," she said, and notably during this past pandemic year, she added.

Benivegna declined to elaborate on details about Milici and his letter to the board pending the outcome of the investigation.