West Seneca employees claim conversations were bugged by former boss
West Seneca employees claim conversations were bugged by former boss
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West Seneca employees claim conversations were bugged by former boss
An accountant resigned from her $42,000-a-year part-time job as West Seneca’s comptroller two months ago after employees accused her and an aide of using a tape recorder to secretly record their workplace conversations.
Town officials confirmed that two town employees made complaints against Jean M. Nihill, 57, about a month before she resigned from her job as the town’s top finance officer on May 12. Nihill, a certified public accountant, is the business partner of one of the town’s most politically powerful individuals – town Democratic Party leader Paul T. Clark, who served as town supervisor for 16 years.
The employees also alleged that former deputy comptroller Linda Kauderer took part in the bugging. Kauderer retired from her town job May 20.
Police investigated the complaints and verified that a tape recorder was used to record the employees while they were working in town offices, Police Chief Daniel M. Denz confirmed.
Authorities decided not to file criminal charges after police consulted with the Erie County District Attorney’s Office, Denz said. He added that a union grievance was filed over the bugging, but said he does not know the status of the grievance.
“The DA felt this did not rise to the level of something that should be criminally prosecuted, and that it should be handled by the town as an administrative matter,” Denz said. “We agreed with them.”
According to New York State laws on surveillance and recording of conversations, it is not illegal for an individual to secretly tape-record a telephone or face-to-face conversation, as long as the individual who is doing the taping is part of the conversation.
But a person in New York State cannot legally tape conversations that he or she is not part of, according to state law.
Nihill was on the job just five months before she resigned. In a short resignation letter she sent to members of the Town Board, she made no mention of the bugging allegations.
“Due to the lack of cooperation by the town supervisor and her staff, I have found it impossible to do an effective job as town comptroller,” Nihill wrote.
Meegan said Nihill’s letter presented an inaccurate picture of what led to the resignation. She denied that she or anyone on her staff had refused to cooperate with Nihill.
Aside from the alleged bugging of her employees, Nihill “couldn’t do the job, because she had no municipal experience,” Meegan said. The town has an annual budget of nearly $35 million.
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Nihill’s status as Paul Clark’s business partner had no bearing on the DA’s consideration of the case, said Sedita, adding that he had no idea that Nihill worked with Paul Clark until a reporter mentioned it to him during an interview.
Paul Clark, who also did not return calls seeking his comment, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor election law violations in 2008, admitting that he failed to report a $10,000 donation. In January 2009, he and his campaign organization were ordered to pay $1,900 in fines and fees.
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