Malloy administration settles with Yelmini over dismissal

The administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy reached a settlement Wednesday evening with Linda Yelmini, the chief labor relations lawyer dismissed a year ago in what the administration termed a layoff and Yelmini called a firing without cause.

Ben Barnes, the secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, said in a telephone interview that he signed an agreement worth about $325,000 in return for Yelmini’s ending all appeals of her dismissal.

“The structure of the payment is somewhat complicated,” Barnes said. “There’s back pay, reimbursement into her pension and a lump sum.”

Gian-Carl Casa, the spokesman for the Office of Policy and Management, announced the settlement in a statement emailed at 6 p.m. that offered no details.

Barnes later said by phone he had signed the deal late in the day and had no ready means to distribute the agreement, copies of which would be available Thursday.

Yelmini, 65, a labor lawyer who served the administrations of five governors in both classified and unclassified positions, told The Mirror on Nov. 20 she had been informed the previous day by Barnes that she was being removed and her office reorganized.

She contested the dismissal to a state employees review board. Her case was pending when the settlement was reached.

In the announcement of a deal Wednesday, Barnes and Yelmini each were described as complimentary of the other:

“OPM Secretary Ben Barnes expressed appreciation for the years of commendable service Ms. Yelmini gave to the State of Connecticut and noted that she remains a valued labor-relations professional with much to offer. Ms. Yelmini thanks her many colleagues at OPM and throughout State service for their dedication to the welfare of the State of Connecticut.”