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Published: May 08, 2008 06:42 pm    print this story  

EDUCATION: BOCES law firm caught by Cuomo

State attorney general investigation find improper employment arrangement

Staff Reports
Niagara Gazette

State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo announced Thursday that a settlement agreement was reached with a Western New York law firm, ending improper employment arrangements with school districts and various Boards of Cooperative Educational Services.

An investigation by Cuomo’s office began earlier in the year by looking at the hiring and employment practices of BOCES and school districts in the state.

The Buffalo firm of Hodgson Russ LLP allowed five area BOCES — covering 112 school districts across Western New York — to list their attorneys as employees, even though they were outside legal counsel. The deal allowed the BOCES’ component school districts to receive reimbursement from the state for a portion of the cost of the lawyers, even though they did not qualify for this aid.

“In recent months, my office has uncovered long-term and systemic fraud on the public pension and benefits systems which have potentially wasted millions of taxpayer dollars,” Cuomo said.

Lawyers representing school districts and BOCES across the state were given public benefits they were not entitled to, Cuomo said in a press release.

“My office will continue to follow this investigation wherever it leads, and we will put an end to this abuse,” he said.

The settlement with the Hodgson firm ends all agreements they had with five BOCES from Monroe County to Buffalo in which their lawyers were improperly listed as employees. BOCES provides services to multiple school districts that individual school districts cannot afford to provide themselves. The firm will also pay $50,000 under the settlement.

None of the Hodgson lawyers received public pension benefits as a result of their employment agreements. The agreements also rescind all public benefits that were wrongfully received.

School districts will not be able to use Hodgson Russ for negotiating services and contracts; districts will have to deal with the firm directly, instead of through BOCES; and districts will receive less state reimbursement for legal finances. Orleans/Niagara BOCES Superintendent Clark Godshall said the reduction wouldn’t be a lot of money.

The five BOCES include: Orleans-Niagara BOCES in Medina; Erie 1 BOCES in West Seneca: Erie 2 BOCES in Angola; Monroe 2 BOCES in Spencerport; and Cattaraugus-Allegany-Erie-Wyoming BOCES in Olean.

“We will comply with any directive,” Godshall said.

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