About 40 state employees laid off in the latest round of budget cuts include a former assistant secretary who last year sued Gov. Martin O’Malley’s administration for wrongful termination.
Nelson Reichart said his position as real estate manager for the Maryland Aviation Administration was eliminated as of today in $432 million worth of cuts approved by the state Board of Public Works.
Recommended Stories
Reichart made headlines last year when he sued O’Malley for firing him as assistant secretary to the Maryland Department of General Services, one day after he made comments to a newspaper questioning a land deal that benefited the governor’s friend.
“What can I say?” Reichart said Tuesday. “Now they’ve decided they could eliminate me. Draw whatever conclusions you want.”
Reichart’s was one of about 22 layoffs under the Department of Transportation, agency spokesman Jack Cahalan said. Seven of the 40 employees being laid off make more than $100,000 annually, but Reichart said that doesn’t include him.
A Baltimore County Circuit Court judge last year temporarily reinstated Reichart’s job with DGS after he filed his lawsuit. But the judge rescinded that order after he concluded there was not enough evidence for a trial.
Reichart subsequently landed his job with MAA, handling a limited number of real estate transactions, Cahalan said. Those will be handled in the future by the State Highway Administration’s real estate office, he said. “It’s a consolidation of function.”
The layoffs are among more than 800 mostly vacant positions eliminated because of this year’s budget shortfall. O’Malley asked each department to identify 5 percent in cuts, but did not specify methods, said Shaun Adamec, an administration spokesman.
“Most certainly this has nothing to do with the people in those positions,” Adamec said. “These aren’t cuts that anyone wanted to make. They are painful not only to the folks whose employment was affected but everyone involved.”
[email protected]
