Head of Employment Security Resigns

The commissioner of Employment Security in New Hampshire has recently chosen to resign due to allegations made against her. The allegations accuse the commissioner, Tara Reardon, of getting her daughter a summer job and then having someone lay her off so that her daughter would not have to work and could instead collect jobless benefits that are available to those who have been laid off. Reardon sent in her resignation letter to the Governor of New Hampshire, John Lynch. In her resignation letter, she did not speak of the allegations and complaints made against her. Although she has chosen to resign from her position, she will still be paid until the end of August.

Instead of talking directly about the allegations made against her, Reardon said that part of her reason for resigning was because of some of the department employees who have been basically attacking her, feeling as though it was her time to step down to avoid dealing with such behavior from the other employees. The complaint made against Reardon from two of her co-workers was all about how Reardon was in violation of the anti-nepotism law that the state of New Hampshire has. The complaint also alleges that Reardon specifically wanted her daughter to be laid off for her daughter’s own personal gain, so that she would qualify for the unemployment benefits available to unemployed individuals in the state.

Reardon took on the position as commissioner back in May of 2009 and at the time, during the council meeting, nothing but positive things were said about her. In fact, it was said that Reardon has stellar performance when it comes down to doing her job and is a very committed individual. Reardon denies allegations and says that she was responsible for the discipline of employees, which is something they did not like. She says that many of the employees in the department were undermining her as a leader, which is generally the reason behind the complaint and allegations. She feels that they have made up fabrications and lies simply because they are unable to do their own jobs in an efficient manner. Reardon says that the performance issues amongst these employees has definitely been a problem but also says she cannot address them because of confidentiality.

Due to the issues at hand, Reardon believed it would be in her best interest to step down but not before saying that she is only doing so to defender herself, especially from these employees who have been causing her problems amid allegations.