Boston Water and Sewer Commission unions press for investigation, suspension of HR director embroiled in two lawsuits

Three unions representing Boston Water and Sewer Commission employees are urging the agency to investigate and suspend its human resources director while the “severe” allegations leveled against her in two civil lawsuits play out in court.

The unions, SEIU Local 888, IAM Local 100, and OPEIU Local 6, sent a letter to the commission’s executive director Henry Vitale on Friday after receiving “multiple comments and complaints from members related to charges” filed in two Suffolk Superior Court lawsuits against the agency’s HR director Marie Theodat.

“The allegations filed against the senior HR director are concerning to the unions and its members that we represent,” the three unions wrote. “The senior HR director has personal access to sensitive information such as banking numbers, routing information, and SSI (social security) numbers.

“Local 888, IAM Local 100, OPEIU Local 6 is strongly suggesting that union members’ sensitive information be entrusted to the custody of the legal department at BWSC, until the senior HR director in question be placed on administrative leave pending the conclusion of an internal investigation or the resolution of this civil matter.”

The letter came on the heels of a years-old lawsuit filed against Theodat becoming public earlier in the day, via a report in the Herald, that outlines allegations of her purported role in stiffing a woman out of a $75,000 mortgage loan — just a week after the Herald first reported that Theodat is embroiled in a new lawsuit that alleges she worked with relatives to swindle her elderly uncle out of his home.

The most recent complaint — filed in Suffolk Superior Court on Aug. 20 by former city councilor Ricardo Arroyo — alleges that Theodat “fraudulently induced” the plaintiff, 88-year-old Rodolphe St. Cloud, to sign over the deed to his $1.1 million Dorchester home for “less than $100,” under the “guise” that he was signing documents related to his medical care.

St. Cloud has “advanced mental deficiency due to dementia and Alzheimer’s,” per the lawsuit, and doesn’t read or speak English, but rather Haitian Creole. The suit also states that the signature of his life partner, Martha Jeudi, who has a similar mental condition due to Alzheimer’s and lives in a care facility, was forged.

Thomas McKeever, president of SEIU Local 888, said the unions are requesting that the sensitive information listed in the letter be “immediately” transferred to the legal department for safekeeping, and are “simply suggesting that there be an internal investigation” conducted by the Boston Water and Sewer Commission.

“Honestly, if this were our members, they would sincerely be terminated,” McKeever told the Herald Saturday. “We would have to grieve it, and then they would be out on unpaid administrative leave. We feel as though these allegations are so severe that the Boston Water and Sewer leadership should take some type of action.

“We’re flabbergasted that this particular individual is just walking around and it’s just business as usual — we’re confused,” McKeever said, adding, “I’ve never seen so many allegations pile up.”

He said the unions plan to send two additional letters, to the chair of the BWSC Board of Commissioners, Michael Woodall, and the Commission’s general counsel, former city councilor Michael Flaherty, with the aim of having the topic discussed at the next board meeting, which, per the BWSC website, is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 23.

A Boston Water and Sewer Commission spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on the unions’ letter.

“BWSC is aware of the allegations made in the complaint,” Dolores Randolph, a spokesperson for the Commission, said in a statement, in regards to the Aug. 20 lawsuit. “This is a personal civil matter to be decided before the court and BWSC has no comment at this time.”

Randolph last week declined to comment on the 2020 lawsuit.

Theodat’s annual salary at the Boston Water and Sewer Commission is roughly $189,958, per a BWSC spokesperson. She declined to comment on the most recent lawsuit, when reached by the Herald late last month.

“I’m just hearing it now, and I unfortunately cannot comment,” Theodat said on Sept. 23. “I am being represented by counsel to this fraudulent complaint.”

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Theodat is listed as a manager on the entity her uncle’s property was conveyed to, 144 Fuller LLC, named after the Dorchester home’s address, along with two other public officials —  her sister, Danny Levy Theodat, chief customer and employee experience officer for the MBTA and Levy’s husband, Wayne Levy, chief of staff at the quasi-public agency Massachusetts Life Sciences Center —  and another relative, according to the lawsuit.

A corporation filing with the Secretary of the Commonwealth lists just Marie Theodat and the fourth relative being sued, Harcher Batrival, as managers of 144 Fuller LLC.

Marie Theodat’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment on the 2020 lawsuit last week. Theodat, who is set to go to trial Nov. 18 for that years-old complaint, filed a response to the plaintiff’s statement of material facts in February 2024, disputing the basis of the complaint — which alleges that she stiffed another woman, Gertha Pierre, on a $75,000 mortgage loan for Theodat’s Milton home.

“Ms. Theodat never borrowed $75,000 from Gertha Pierre, and she did not execute the alleged promissory note or mortgage deed as alleged by Gertha Pierre,” the response filed by Theodat’s attorney, Adam Cohen, states.

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