Days after she was fired and accused of possible “criminal” activity by the governor Henry McMaster, former SC Accident Fund (SCSAF) Amy Cofield is petitioning the former chief to be readmitted.
In other words, this bureaucratic saga is just beginning …
According to a letter obtained by this means of communication, Cofield’s lawyer – James M. Griffin of Columbia, SC – informed McMaster that his client “was removed from his office without any appearance of due process”.
Consequently, he is requesting that the executive order removing Cofield from his position be rescinded – reinstating it to the head of the agency she has led for the past two years, pending the outcome of an investigation into the allegations made against her.
“She was not warned of any allegations against her nor did she have an opportunity to respond to allegations that she was involved in misconduct,” wrote Griffin. “Instead, Ms. Cofield was informed of her resignation in a brief phone call with (the McMaster team attorney) in which she requested, but was denied, an opportunity to speak with you.”
According to Griffin, Cofield learned through the media after his resignation which was the subject of an investigation by the Office of the Inspector General of SC (SCOIG).
“With all due respect, I propose that an investigation should have been conducted before Mrs. Cofield was closed,” wrote Griffin, adding that “we are confident that such an investigation will completely exempt Ms. Cofield from any misconduct.”
McMaster referred Cofield to SCOIG last week citing “significant ethical and legal issues about employee conduct” at his agency. He instructed the inspector general’s office to “conduct a full investigation to determine whether criminal violations of state law have occurred.”
To recap: A company that employs Cofield’s husband – Jimmy Terrapin – was hired by her agency in January for a two-year contract valued at up to $ 600,000. According to Cofield, his agency was in the middle of building a new case management system after the spectacular failure of a similar system at SC’s Department of Employment and Workforce (SCDEW). In fact, previous efforts by accident fund leaders to address this problem had been an absolute failure – returning taxpayers more than $ 1 million.
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(Via: Provided)
Cofield (above) knew that her husband – who has three decades of experience in the information technology sector – could help with the project, but it would be inappropriate to hire him.
However, an initial public request for proposals (RFP) yielded no response, and so Cofield allowed his subordinates to explore the possibility of hiring her husband – including obtaining permission from state purchasing officers before proceeding with another RFP.
The second RFP produced only one response – from the company that employs Cofield’s husband.
Cofield told the press that he had no role in the decision-making process that led to the signing of the contract on January 6, 2021 – that all of these decisions were made by his subordinates. She also made it clear that her husband did not report to her.
“Mrs. Cofield withdrew completely from the hiring process after her husband’s employer decided to submit a proposal for this award,” Griffin wrote to McMaster. “Mrs. Cofield has every reason to believe that the agency’s deputy directors and employees have followed the appropriate procurement protocol as directed by their agency. ”
Cofield was appointed to her position as executive director of the accident fund in January 2019. Before taking office, she was a lawyer specializing in labor claims, real estate and inventory processes.
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According to Griffin, McMaster “appears to be looking for some changes in the acquisition process” – specifically with regard to allegations of nepotism.
“Perhaps there should even be a policy of nepotism, prohibiting any state agency from hiring relatives of agency directors,” wrote Griffin. “However, there is currently no such policy and terminating Ms. Cofield simply because her husband’s company won the award, when all current procurement procedures have been followed, is simply not fair.”
Cofield supporters highlighted the former McMaster nominating czar Tommy Windsor as the driving force behind his expulsion. In fact, Cofield told reporters last week that Windsor wanted her to create the agency’s chief of staff and nominate him to the position. She said she refused to create the job (or give it to her) because she believed it was superfluous.
Windsor declined to comment last week when we contacted him. Sources close to the career bureaucrat told us that there was “more to this story”, however.
McMaster Communications Director Brian Symmes did not immediately respond to our request for comments on the letter from Cofield’s lawyer. Obviously, our microphone is open to the governor’s office, should you wish to discuss this issue (or any other) with our readers.
According to Griffin, Cofield is “devastated by her removal and denial of her right to be heard … and to defend these baseless claims against her.”
Our opinion on all this? Founding editor of this news medium Will Folks opined last week that “an agency’s view of hiring its director’s wife is absolutely terrible under any circumstances” and that there was “a fair argument to be made that Cofield should have Never considered this possibility – no matter who gave your blessing. “
Of course, it appears that Cofield’s husband was qualified for the job – and based on the information currently available, it appears that she “handled the situation properly in terms of revealing the conflict and refusing any decisions related to him.”
Appropriately does not mean properly, however … but as Folks noted “there is an argument to be made that Cofield did not deserve to be fired from her job based on the way she handled the situation – let alone being on the receiving end of allegations of criminal conduct. “
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THE LETTER …
2021-02-15_JMG-to-McMaster
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