Former Access Health CT CEO Jim Wadleigh has paid a $5,000 civil penalty for violating Connecticut’s code of ethics when he accepted employment with state contractor Softheon Inc.
At issue was Wadleigh”™s taking the job less than a year after resigning from AHCT in February. Softheon, based in Stony Brook, New York, also paid a $5,000 penalty for offering Wadleigh employment within one year of his departure from state service; it hired him in October.
Section 1-84b (f), one of several provisions of the state’s code of ethics known as the “revolving door” sections, prohibits a public official from being hired for a period of one year after leaving state service by a company that had a state contract valued at $50,000 or more if he was involved in the negotiation or award of that contract and it was signed within his last year of state service. It also prohibits any person or company with a state contract from employing any such former public official.
When he was CEO of AHCT, the quasi-public agency signed a contract for more than $2 million with Softheon for it to facilitate the agency”™s Small Business Health Options Program.
Wadleigh resigned from Softheon in October, just a few days after being hired as its chief operating officer, upon learning that he may have violated the state”™s ethics code.
“When state employees leave state service it is critical for them to understand that there are very specific revolving door provisions, which ban particular actions,” said Carol Carson, executive director of the Office of State Ethics. “Know the limits, contact our legal division for advice and then follow the advice you are given.”
