Political Hire Costs Taxpayers Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars

Here’s an example of the danger of hiring the unqualified but politically connected.

Politics improperly influenced the decision to hire a top state lawyer after former Gov. Tony Earl helped a friend’s nephew get the job, a hearing examiner has concluded.

The tainted hiring cost taxpayers $346,000 in recent legal settlements paid to two qualified internal candidates passed over for the job as the state’s top unemployment insurance lawyer, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press under the state open records law.

The Department of Workforce Development eventually hired Daniel LaRocque, a lawyer with no experience in unemployment insurance or state government but close ties to Democratic politics.

In the process, DWD officials broke numerous hiring policies and state laws, Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission hearing examiner Lauri Millot concluded in a proposed decision last year.