County HR Director Suspended Following Grand Jury Report

The Human Resources director for Bucks County has been suspended without pay following a grand jury report that showed her department’s “lax” practices cost taxpayers roughly $500,000.

Meredith Dolan, a resident of Warrington, was suspended Wednesday from her position. When Dolan was hired to the job in 2009, she was paid $82,000, according to a county release. Dolan’s current salary was not available as of press time.

Commissioners Chairman Robert Loughery told LevittownNow.com that Dolan met with county leaders Wednesday in Doylestown and the “indefinite” suspension was handed down.

Loughery said the HR department would be overseen by the county’s financial officer and chief operating officer. The two will work alongside the current assistant HR director and department staff during a “transition” period.

At a press conference last week in Doylestown, officials spoke of the grand jury findings and released the entire report to the media.

A large investigation originally focused on county employees who reportedly had dependents that were no longer eligible for heath care, turned to the work of the HR department. County Controller Ray McHugh told reporters that HR employees “repeatedly blamed county employees for failing to follow protocols that were never established or defined.” He said in some cases computer system glitches and other problems were blamed.

The county lost in excess of $450,000 due to the work of HR staff, the grand jury report said. District Attorney David Heckler also said more money was lost due to the year-long county probe into the alleged misconduct. However, he did not have an exact figure.

The grand jury said losses “could have been avoided by better HR practices and procedures.” Dolan was responsible for the department and its practices, officials said.

The grand jury reported details on the out-of-date HR department. According to the 76-page document, the department uses mostly paper records and relied on the “honor system” when handling dependent changes. The report said there was plenty of room for changes to “slip through the cracks.”

Dolan told commissioner Diane Marseglia via email in summer 2013 that HR takes “great pride” in maintaining and keeping up with dependent changes submitted by the county employees covered by county insurance, according to the grand jury report.

“Clearly, this investigation has found otherwise, as investigators found three time-stamped divorce decrees in the HR files for divorced employees who had asked that their spouses be removed from the coverage at the time of their divorce decrees,” the grand jury report states on page 27 in response to the email from Dolan to Marseglia.

The county released an extensive amount of paperwork that appeared to show thousands of money paid for insurance to cover those who should have no longer been on policies.

The grand jury report stated there are “continuing problems” within the HR department and county money continues to be wasted.

County officials plan to get feedback on how other government and quasi-governmental agencies handle their HR duties in the coming week, Loughery said when reached in Doylestown on Wednesday afternoon. He added that no option, including outsourcing the work, is off the table at this point.

Heckler said last week that no criminal charges were expected against HR staff.

The HR department consists of eight full-time employees and one part-time worker. The office handles $41 million in insurance coverage for county employees and their dependents.

Dolan, according to a 2009 press release, has served several positions on the HR office since 1994. LevittownNow.com has tried to contact Dolan multiple since the grand jury report was released last Friday; she has yet to respond for comment.

Here’s a copy of the grand jury report:

Click to access Grand-Jury-Report.pdf