He is the SEIU 5000 (aka NAGE) legislative lobbyist...the guy who year after year has been unable to secure legislative approval for negotiated and ratified contracts.... including the current concessions contract amendment...also he is....
A defunct Worcester cop....
a defunct Worcester city councilor
a defunct member of the Worcester retirement board
paid $135,000 in hard earned dues money (2009 LM-2)
Being a defunct cop Probably explains why he spends a lot of time lobbying for the Quinn bill (those sweet salary bonuses for cops with higher education degrees from such
diploma mills august institutions as the Anna Maria Allbregetti College and the "Close cover before striking" university....) (hey I don't begrudge them.... I'd like a 25% salary bump for my Masters Degree too.... hey it makes me a better bureaucrat!....really)
..... and, Why he
lobbies against civilian flag men....
He is also interested in
legislation that prohibits retirement authorities from conducting surveillance on disability retirees.... this of course protects the privacy of those with legit injuries, but perhaps
more importantly (to them), it protects the privacy of malingerers with phony bad backs and the like....
So if you're thinking you might file a phony disability claim, then I'm thinking that Ray McGrath is probably your kind of guy.... he's got your back.... so to speak....
.... if on the other hand, you'd simply like to see your stinkin' 1% raise (over 2 years!) get funded.... then not so much, Ray has been disgustingly ineffectual in securing the even the puniest raises from the legislature...... Hey, he can't even get the legislature to approve the latest round of give-backs that Holway gave them!
Ray's younger brother Dave, would surely have liked to have seen Ray's legislation (prohibiting surveillance go through)...... his attempt to sweeten his retirement by turning it into a "disability" (for a bad neck).... was scuttled when surveillance video (showing him doing heavy yard work and moving furniture) was shown to the retirement board (of which brother Ray was a member) ....
The matter was referred to Marsha Coakley for investigation.... I'm sure she's all over it.... as soon as she gets done with Garden Clubs, who are a menace to society, she look further into this alleged scheme...
this based on reports in the Worcester telegram:
Friday, December 19, 2008
AG asked to probe pension case
After video, retired firefighter withdrew claim
By Shaun Sutner TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
ssutner@telegram.com
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WORCESTER — District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. has asked the state attorney general to pursue the case of a retired firefighter who was shown on video doing heavy yardwork and moving furniture at his Cape Cod home while he was on sick leave.
The former city fire lieutenant, David P. McGrath, 56, retired in June and later applied for a tax-free disability pension. He withdrew the application, however, after the city Retirement Board commissioned a private investigator to tail Mr. McGrath and produce a 13-minute video that was shown to the board at its Nov. 20 meeting.
The board voted 4-0 yesterday to accept Mr. McGrath’s withdrawal of the disability pension request. The retired firefighter’s brother, board member Raymond F. McGrath, abstained.
Meanwhile, in a related development,
state Rep. John P. Fresolo, D-Worcester — a close associate of Raymond McGrath who filed a bill in the Legislature that would have effectively barred public boards from conducting surveillance on active or retired employees — told the Telegram & Gazette that he made an honest mistake when he entered the private executive session of the Retirement Board in which the video was viewed last month.
David McGrath, who applied for the higher pension claiming he had injured his neck on the job, receives a regular annual pension of $55,200. His lawyer, Paul T. Hynes, did not return a call seeking comment for this story.
Timothy J. Connolly, a spokesman for the district attorney, said state law assigns to the attorney general all alleged abuses of public retirement systems, and that his office, after talking with the city manager and the police chief, referred the matter to Attorney General Martha Coakley.
“The commission that believes the laws have been violated must represent the facts to the AG,” Mr. Connolly said. “They presented some information to the DA, we looked at it and determined that this is really a contributory retirement issue.”
Melissa Karpinsky, spokeswoman for Ms. Coakley, said the attorney general’s policy is to neither confirm nor deny investigations.
Retirement Board officials said that while Mr. McGrath could technically re-file his application for the disability pension, it is unlikely.
“He would have the same hurdle to overcome that he has now, the evidence,” said Elizabeth A. Early, executive director of the five-member board, as well as a member of the panel, which administers the city retirement system and pension fund covering 6,500 people.
Since last month’s viewing of the DVD footage, the retired firefighter’s brother, Raymond McGrath, who can be seen on the video helping David McGrath move furniture into a pickup truck, has been unseated from the Retirement Board.
Raymond McGrath, 60, a Westboro resident and longtime board member and former Worcester city councilor and police officer, is a Statehouse lobbyist for the Massachusetts affiliate of the National Association of Government Employees union.
Mr. McGrath, whose latest three-year term on the board expires Dec. 31, was defeated in a mail-in election by John Mahan, a city police officer. With the votes tabulated on Monday, Mr. Mahan defeated Mr. McGrath 1,367 to 1,063.
Mr. McGrath said in an interview that he thought Mr. Fresolo was looking for him when he briefly poked his head into the closed board meeting in a City Hall conference room a month ago.
“He didn’t bust into anything. He opened the door. He wanted to speak to me. He didn’t know it was an executive session,” Mr. McGrath said. “I told him it was a closed meeting and he couldn’t be in there.”
Mr. McGrath added that he asked Mr. Fresolo to file the bill in 2005 that would have severely restricted municipal officials’ ability to conduct surveillance on employees or retirees such as his brother who are suspected of pension abuse.
He did so, he said, “to protect the rights of our members.”
Mr. Fresolo’s bill, which would have required the person under suspicion to be notified of the investigation beforehand, received a rare “ought not to pass” vote from the House Committee on Public Service, a clear signal that it should not be refiled.
As for his role in the video, Mr. McGrath said he had no comment.
“It’s his right to file for a disability pension,” Raymond McGrath said of his younger brother. “I’m not going to answer questions about my brother.”
For his part, Mr. Fresolo’s story about his encounter with the Retirement Board meeting differed from Mr. McGrath’s.
Mr. Fresolo, who has filed dozens of bills for Raymond McGrath over the years, said he was looking for the License Commission session but mistakenly walked into the Retirement Board session.
He said he was told by a clerk that the meeting he wanted was in Room 310, but that he went into adjacent Room 310B, where the Retirement Board was meeting in private, executive session..
“I opened the door and there’s this conference table full of people,” Mr. Fresolo said. “I shut the door and went out.”
Mr. Fresolo said he had no comment about David McGrath’s disability retirement application.
“I don’t even know Ray’s brother,” he said.
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Byline: Scott J. Croteau
WORCESTER - The city's Retirement Board, at its meeting last month, watched a DVD presented by city officials.
On it, they saw footage of a man working earlier this year in a yard at an East Dennis home. The man bent down to gather leaves and chopped at a tree stump. Other footage in the roughly 13-minute video showed the same man moving furniture with his brother and taking items to a Cape Cod transfer station.
The man, Fire Lt. David P. McGrath, was on sick leave at the time.The 56-year-old, who is now retired, was sitting before the board that day, Nov. 20, seeking a disability retirement. The footage was taken by two private investigative firms hired by the city to document the retired firefighter's injury.
Nothing on the DVD indicated the former fire investigator had problems moving his neck - the injury he said he suffered while working for the city and the basis of his disability claim.
Several city officials said they could not discuss the disability claim, citing the confidentiality of personnel and medical records. Referring to suspected fraudulent claims in general, City Manager
Michael V. O'Brien said they are taken seriously and law enforcements officials are notified.
"When we assemble a case and we believe we have all the documentation, data and facts to prove fraud, I have an obligation to pursue that to the full extent of the law," he said. "I can't cite this case specifically for it is a matter that is under investigation and I suspect further action.
"What I will say is before we take action, as a city we will assemble the facts, the data and the documentation so when we do proceed forward we will be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that fraud is involved."
Mr. O'Brien and Police Chief Gary J. Gemme met with District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. and his staff to review the case to determine whether there is criminal liability and, if so, how it would be handled.
Timothy J. Connolly, spokesman for Mr. Early, yesterday confirmed the meeting took place.
A couple of weeks after the Retirement Board meeting, Mr. McGrath withdrew his disability retirement claim.
His lawyer, Paul T. Hynes, sent the letter. The Retirement Board discussed the matter in executive session. Mr. McGrath's brother, Raymond F. McGrath, sits on the board but recused himself from the meeting when his brother's case came up.
A woman who answered the phone at Mr. Hynes' office yesterday, said, "It is the firm's policy not to talk to the media." Mr. McGrath could not be reached for comment. No one answered the door at his Grafton home. His East Dennis home has an unpublished number.
According to records obtained by the Telegram & Gazette through the Freedom of Information Act, Mr. McGrath was placed on injured leavefrom July 30, 2007, to Feb. 23, 2008. Currently there are 15 to 18 police or firefighters out on injured leave. The average annual cost to the city is $2 million. While on injured leave, state and federal income taxes are not deducted from pay.
From Feb. 24 to June 17, Mr. McGrath was on sick leave and taxes were deducted from his pay. According to records, Mr. McGrath retired from the city June 19 and his superannuation retirement became effective.
The former lieutenant, who had 33.8 years of service, applied for disability retirement on Aug. 4. City records also show he received $7,663 for sick leave buy back. Originally Mr. McGrath retired on June17 with 39 sick days left, then changed his retirement to June 19 - leaving him with 37 sick days, which is the maximum days that can be bought back.
The city hired two private investigative firms - NWI InvestigativeGroup Inc. in Woburn and Summit Investigations Inc. in Weymouth - ata cost of $3,928 to follow Mr. McGrath. The investigators tracked the former firefighter from his home in Grafton to his summer home at 67 Indian Field Drive in East Dennis.
According to their reports and several copies of surveillance footage, Mr. McGrath was seen at his Cape Cod home doing yard work, shoveling, swinging an ax and filling and pushing a wheelbarrow.
One investigator reported seeing Mr. McGrath ride his motorcycle with his wife on April 19. Another report from May 23 said Mr. McGrath carried bags and luggage and three or four cases of bottled water from his vehicle into the garage.
"Claimant moved with ease and Investigator saw no visible medical aids or devices," the report said.
Another report from June 8 said Mr. McGrath hauled trash bags intohis truck and then took them to a transfer station in Dennis. "On all observations the claimant moved with fluid movements and showed no visible signs of pain or discomfort," the report said. "He appeared to move his head freely from left to right."
Surveillance occurred in March, April, May and June and included footage of Mr. McGrath moving furniture into a truck with his brother's help. A phone message left at Raymond McGrath's office - he is a legislative lobbyist for the International Brotherhood of Police Officers - was not returned.
Raymond McGrath's three-year term on the Retirement Board ends Dec. 31. The working and retired city employees had until Dec. 5 - including mail postmarked that date - to vote for Raymond McGrath or his opponent John Mahan. The votes will be tabulated by an outside agency Friday.
When asked about the roughly $4,000 the city spent for the private investigators, Mr. O'Brien said again without specifically citing Mr. McGrath's case, "We know the cost is far greater if the fraud is real. Hundreds of thousands of dollars could be paid out over time based on any fraudulent claim."
The city will use a private investigator when authorities believe there is probable cause to use those services for further fact finding, the city manager said.
City Auditor James DelSignore, chairman of the Retirement Board, declined to discuss Mr. McGrath's case because medical records were discussed and the issue was handled in executive session. No action wastaken by the board on Nov. 20.
Retirement is funded through employee contributions and the board's investment portfolio. Retirement under normal circumstances calculates years of service and the employee's age. Under superannuation retirement, the maximum one can receive is 80 percent of the employee's three-year annual average rate of regular compensation, which Mr. McGrath was eligible to receive. Federal, but not state, taxes come out of superannuation retirement.
With disability retirement, one receives 72 percent of the annual rate of compensation which the employee earned on the date of the injury. That could put a retirement pension beyond 80 percent because it is tax-free.
