10 Insanely Overpaid Public Employees
Earnings: $1,200,000
Where: SUNY Binghamton, NY
Kevin Broadus, who had a five-year $1 million contract, was let go from his job as head coach for little-known SUNY Binghamton men’s basketball team in 2009 over an ethics scandal. He sued the school for discrimination, and received a $1.2 million buyout to drop the suit. Taxpayers got to pick up all the legal bills too. In June, Broadus was hired as an assistant coach at Georgetown, where he has worked previously.
Earnings: $784,596
Where:High Desert State Prison, CA
Jeffrey W. Rohlfing works at an overcrowded, 4,000-plus inmate facility in the middle of the California desert. The $784,596 figure includes overtime, bonuses, and other compensation, in addition to salary, but it’s quite a jump from 2004 when Rohlfing earned a mere $132,854. The pay hike is especially surprising since Rohlfing was put on probation for five years in 1997 after being found guilty of unprofessional conduct and impairment due to mental illness.
Earnings: $737,057
Where:Stockton, California
Even in prison, shrinks rake it in. Of the $737,057 that Fong Lai received in 2010, $594,976 was for more than 2 1/2 years worth of unused sick time when he left the job in 2010. Still, in the last full year he worked, his base salary was $224,306 in addition to overtime pay of $72,308.
Earnings: $721,043
Where:Stonybrook Hospital, NY
Running a university hospital makes Steven Strongwater the fourth-highest paid employee in the state, earning six times what a physician at the hospital makes. He was hired in 2006, after a long career as a hospital administrator.
Earnings: $560,038
Where:City University of New York
As CUNY deals with $205 million in budget cuts, and Chancellor Matthew Goldstein proposes raising tuition on some 533,000 students in the system, he maintains earnings of $560,000.
Earnings: $343,608
Where:Citizens Property Insurance Corp., FL (Florida’s public insurance provider)
As public insurance premiums rise for homeowners in Florida, so do executives’ earnings. Scott Wallace was paid a base wage of $343,608 in 2009, one of the highest-paid employees in the state. Even homeowners who choose to insure their property with a private insurer are helping fund Wallace’s wage, paying a 1.4 percent fee on their premiums to cover Citizens’ shortfalls after Hurricane Katrina.