Conn. Ethics Counsel’s Fake Letter Helped Get Ethics Chief Axed

An in-house lawyer for the State Ethics Commission in Connecticut reportedly fabricated a letter purporting to be from a parking lot attendant that helped get her boss, ethics chief Alan Plofsky, fired in 2004 for claimed misconduct.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell says her office will investigate former commission lawyer Maureen Duggan, who is now a staff attorney earning over $105,000 a year at the state Department of Children and Families, writes the Hartford Courant.

Duggan admitted under oath in a January deposition that she wrote the letter, the newspaper says. The missive accused Plofsky, who is currently pursuing a lawsuit over his termination from his ethics commission job, of keeping "strange hours," not working full days, and, the article indicates, allowing staff to take extra time off around state holidays.

An investigation resulted and the commission, reportedly relying heavily on information from Duggan and two other staff attorneys that documented other alleged issues, dismissed Plofsky in 2004. He subsequently won reinstatement to another state job and is now seeking disability retirement.

Duggan did not respond to a phone call from the newspaper.