“It was his way or the highway,’’ said one guest at the party who was aghast at the way that McLaughlin and his top aide, Linda Thibodeau, embarrassed the woman in front of about 40 agency employees and guests.
A few months later, the authority’s board of directors quietly approved money “to settle a claim with a former employee,’’ say the meeting minutes, but apparently never filed the required report of the payment with the state or federal agencies that provide most of the Housing Authority’s funding.
The Foxwoods incident is one of several troubling accounts about McLaughlin’s conduct at the authority that have emerged since he was forced to resign Nov. 3 amid public furor over his $360,000 salary, which he had concealed from state officials. On the day McLaughlin resigned, he cosigned checks to himself for more than $200,000 for what he said were unused vacation, sick, and personal days, while an employee shredded records.
Now, the FBI is conducting a criminal investigation into alleged misuse of government funds at the authority, which manages 1,450 housing units for low-income people. McLaughlin and his entire board of directors have resigned under pressure from Governor Deval Patrick, and they were replaced this week by a court-appointed receiver.
Several employees said that McLaughlin openly played favorites during his more than 11 years at the helm and punished dissenters, creating what staff members outside the inner circle saw as a culture of unfairness.
“Everyone knew to keep your mouth shut, keep your head down and do your work,’’ said one employee who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation.
While the woman who received the sex toys left the authority in humiliation, the aide who arranged the party has flourished. Thibodeau has risen through the ranks to make nearly $100,000, including a $10,000 stipend that she started receiving in 2009 for what McLaughlin described in a letter as additional duties.
