Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
Norfolk County sheriff’s deputy allegedly used department employees to work on his house, violating state law
Thomas Brady allegedly approached plumbers working for the sheriff’s office on four occasions in 2021 and 2022 to do work at his home.
A state ethics commission on Wednesday said it found that a Norfolk County Sheriff’s Office assistant deputy superintendent violated conflict of interest law by using department employees to perform free plumbing work at his private home.
Thomas Brady, assistant deputy superintendent of jail operations at the Norfolk sheriff’s office, allegedly approached plumbers working for the sheriff’s office on four occasions in 2021 and 2022 and asked them to perform work at his home, the state Ethics Commission’s Enforcement Division said in a statement. The plumbers performed the work — replacing a shower head, replacing his water heater, repairing his boiler, and replacing the boiler’s circulator pump — largely during their work hours for the sheriff’s office and were not compensated. The sheriff’s office was also not reimbursed for the time the plumbers were doing the private work for Brady.
Advertisement:
In one instance, Brady allegedly gave each of the plumbers a bottle of wine instead of paying them, according to the commission.
Given his superior rank and position in the sheriff’s office, the commission said each request was inherently coercive.
“Brady’s actions violated the conflict of interest law’s prohibition against state employees receiving anything of substantial value given to them because of their official position, as well as the law’s prohibition against public employees using or attempting to use their official positions to obtain valuable unwarranted privileges that are not properly available to them,” the commission said.
Advertisement:
A public hearing on the allegations against Brady will be held within 90 days.
According to the commission, the body is allowed to impose a penalty of up to $10,000 for each violation of the state’s ethics law.
A representative from the sheriff’s office said they are aware of the ethic commission’s order and declined to comment on any personnel matters.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com