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A hearing examiner has concluded that Earl’s intervention helped Daniel LaRocque get hired as the state’s top unemployment insurance lawyer with a $107,000 annual salary.
Two qualified internal candidates who were passed over recently received $346,000 in payments and back pay to settle claims of political favoritism.
Earl, a Democrat who was governor from 1983 to 1987, said he was not aware of the settlements. He also said he did nothing wrong in helping LaRocque, who had no experience with unemployment insurance or in state government before he was hired in 2005.
Earl told The Associated Press he has known LaRocque, 53, “since he was a youngster” and knows his father and uncle well. His uncle is a retired judge who Earl appointed to the state court of appeals; another relative, Ruth LaRocque, is a Democrat who worked under Earl.
Earl said he called Department of Workforce Development unemployment insurance administrator Hal Bergan at LaRocque’s request to provide “a character reference.” Bergan had the final say on who to hire for the job and was Earl’s policy director during his one term in office.
“I called Hal and I said, ’a young fella named Dan LaRocque is in the mix, and I’d like to put in a good word for him,“’ recalled Earl, 72.
After getting Earl’s call, Bergan took steps to make sure LaRocque won the job, a hearing examiner concluded. In the process, Bergan violated numerous department hiring policies and state law, the examiner found in a proposed decision last year.
Department of Workforce Development officials continued Friday to refuse to answer questions about the case, such as whether Bergan had been held accountable for missteps. Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle also refused to take questions after an event in Madison on Friday.
Earl said he did not know the job was a civil service position that was supposed to be insulated from politics, but he would have made the call for LaRocque, anyway.
“He had no political connection. It was a personal connection,” Earl said. “I’ve known the family for many, many years. I would not have given him a character reference if I didn’t know him well. I was very comfortable doing that.”
LaRocque testified that he volunteered for Earl’s campaigns in the 1980s and knew him through social events. He has testified he met with Earl and went over his resume and then asked him to call Bergan.
Earl said LaRocque made the request after they ran into each other at a basketball game.
One of the candidates passed over for LaRocque was Jorge Fuentes, a 20-year department veteran who is an enforcement attorney in the unemployment insurance division. He was given a $300,000 settlement and a raise.
LaRocque also beat out Robert Junceau, who has been an administrative law judge in the unemployment insurance division since 1992. Junceau received a $24,000 settlement and a raise.
Bergan has testified he hired LaRocque because of his management experience and he was not influenced by Earl. Hearing Examiner Laurie Millot found that explanation unbelievable.
Bergan failed to perform reference checks to find out why LaRocque was let go from CUNA Mutual Group, violated the department’s affirmative action plan by failing to include minorities on the interview panel and slanted his questions to favor LaRocque, she found.
Department of Workforce Development Secretary Roberta Gassman, who also worked under Earl, declined interview requests Thursday and Friday through spokesman Dick Jones. Jones has refused to say whether Bergan was disciplined for his handling of the hiring.
Earl called Bergan “a man of great integrity” and said he would never have manipulated the process.
“If he didn’t think this guy was a good hire, he would have told me,” Earl said.
Doyle was not aware of the flawed hiring or the settlements until they were reported by AP, his spokesman Lee Sensenbrenner said.
“The governor would be unhappy with any instance of discrimination and he expects the administration to adhere to the rules,” he said.
