New Britain demands Erin Stewart repay severance, tuition funds, and attorneys' fees

The City of New Britain is demanding former Mayor Erin Stewart repay more than $240,000 in severance, tuition reimbursements, and legal costs following an independent investigation that found she received benefits by bypassing the required approval process.

The formal letter to Stewart was dated June 4, the same day the report came out.

In the formal letter addressed to Stewart, Corporation Counsel William C. Rivera demanded that she repay $107,703.08 of taxpayer funds related to what the city describes as an improper separation payout, or severance, $31,561.54 in tuition reimbursements, and $102,294 in attorneys’ fees and investigation costs.

The city also notified Stewart that any pension benefit she sought had been revoked.

Rivera wrote that Stewart was supposed to receive severance pay of $150,949.59, but the payments were paused at $121,978.88. The maximum severance pay that she should have received was only $14,275.80.

In total, the city is demanding Stewart repay it $241,558.62. The city said she must repay the attorneys’ fees by July 1, the funds from the severance pay by Aug.1, and the tuition reimbursement funds by Sept. 1.

The demand follows the latest report from the Crumbie Law Group, an outside firm hired by the city to investigate financial practices during Stewart’s administration.

NBC Connecticut also obtained a separate letter sent to Attorney General William Tong, where Rivera highlighted findings from the city’s investigation, including allegations that Stewart used a city-issued credit card to purchase items that appeared to be for personal benefit, later sold some of those items during a “moving-out tag sale” at City Hall, and directed taxpayer funds to the Mayor’s Trophy Charity Fund.

Rivera asked the attorney general’s office to examine those matters as part of its ongoing investigation.

Read that letter below:

NBC Connecticut has reached out to Stewart’s attorney and has not yet heard back.

In a separate letter dated June 5, the city also denied a pension request from former tax collector Cheryl Blogoslawski, another issue raised in the Crumbie Law Group investigation.

The City of New Britain placed Blogoslawski on administrative leave for “years of alleged financial malfeasance within City Hall,” in February.

Corporation Counsel William Rivera wrote that Blogoslawski had completed 16 years of service, short of the 20 years required by the city charter to qualify for a pension.

The letter also states that a memorandum of understanding signed by Stewart that purported to grant pension eligibility was “invalid and unenforceable,” arguing that a mayor does not have authority to alter charter requirements through an agreement or administrative action.

Read that letter below:

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