The New Hampshire Department of Justice says an irregular series of personnel maneuvers involving a longtime colleague of the state’s top judge didn’t violate any criminal laws.
But the chain of events which allowed Dianne Martin — former chief of staff to Supreme Court Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald — to cash out approximately $50,000 in unused sick and vacation time following a 48-hour layoff does appear to have violated the Judicial Branch’s personnel procedures.
New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella announced Tuesday the completion of a review into the payouts, concluding that “there is no reasonable suspicion to believe that further investigation would uncover actionable criminal conduct.”
The attorney general’s review was prompted by an investigation published by NHPR last month that detailed Martin’s layoff by the state Judicial Branch on April 1, and her subsequent rehiring into a new role in the same agency just two days later. The brief gap in unemployment allowed her to collect her accrued sick and vacation leave. Four justices on the state Supreme Court issued a statement following publication of that story claiming that Martin’s initial position at the courts had been eliminated as part of a cost-saving measure, even though the branch immediately filled the post with a veteran court administrator.
As part of its review, the Department of Justice interviewed both current and former state employees, which the agency says confirmed the chain of events first published by NHPR. However, prosecutors said the Judicial Branch has broad authority over its own personnel practices.
“While it would be reasonable to conclude that in certain respects human resources best practices were not followed during the series of events and transactions examined, DOJ does not have oversight authority over the judicial branch for such issues,” Formella said.
The Supreme Court issued a statement following the review’s release, saying that it “remains committed to the orderly, impartial, and transparent administration of justice.”
While the Attorney General found the Judicial Branch failed to follow its own personnel rules surrounding Martin’s layoff, the court refuted that assessment, reiterating its previous statements that its “personnel actions in question were carried out in accordance with governing rules and policies.”
Through his attorney, MacDonald declined to issue his own statement, instead directing a request for comment to the Judicial Branch’s statement. Martin, through her attorney, did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
A layoff, then a new job
Martin and MacDonald have worked together in multiple roles across New Hampshire state government for nearly a decade. In 2017, when MacDonald became state Attorney General, Martin was employed in the agency’s civil bureau. Then, in 2019, MacDonald tapped Martin to serve as his chief of staff.
When MacDonald was confirmed as chief justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court in 2021, he hired Martin as director of the Administrative Office of the Courts, a top post within the judiciary tasked with overseeing accounting, human resources, IT and more.
But on Feb. 28, after several years in the position, Martin was called into a meeting with some of the Supreme Court justices, according to details released Tuesday by the Attorney General. Martin was told her position as director was eliminated “effective immediately.” The investigation found that Martin was not given advance notice of her layoff, as required by Judicial Branch personnel rules.
Despite her removal at the end of February, Martin continued to be paid her salary of $154,000 for another four weeks, until she was formally laid off in a letter dated April 1. However, just before her last day on the payroll, Martin was offered a fully remote job with the Judicial Branch set to start April 4.
Martin’s two-day gap in employment meant she was able to cash out her unused sick and vacation time, totaling just under $50,000. People with experience in state government human resources who reviewed the matter at NHPR’s request said Martin’s movement between positions was highly unusual.
A whistleblower who worked in the Judicial Branch was so concerned about the chain of events that they brought the matter to the attention of a top official at the New Hampshire Department of Administrative Services, the agency that processes state payrolls.
Handwritten notes from that conversation obtained by NHPR through a public records request show that the whistleblower believed Martin’s personnel moves were the “chief’s idea,” an apparent reference to MacDonald. “Chief wants to lay her off for a week and then rehire her into a new role,” the whistleblower said.
In its announcement Tuesday, prosecutors with the Department of Justice said they interviewed current and former state employees across multiple branches of government about the transactions, as well as reviewed government records and other documents.
The report concluded that Martin’s payouts of nearly $50,000 were calculated accurately. The review also noted that the Judicial Branch’s rehiring of Martin into another role was its “sole province.” The Department of Justice said it would take no further actions.
Records retained
On the same day NHPR published its investigation into Martin’s personnel moves in late October, the New Hampshire Department of Justice launched a preliminary review of the matter. As part of its inquiry, a top prosecutor sent letters to MacDonald, as well as to the top administrative judge for the state judiciary, Chris Keating, instructing them to preserve any records related to Martin’s personnel moves. Martin also received a similar letter, as did the Commissioner of the Department of Administrative Services.
At the same time, MacDonald hired Jane Young, a longtime Department of Justice attorney who served as his deputy attorney general and is now in private practice, to represent him. On the day the NHPR article was published, Young spoke with her former colleague, Deputy Attorney General James Boffetti, criticizing the story as “misleading.” Young offered to have MacDonald provide prosecutors with his own written version of events. The Department of Justice confirmed the chronology of events laid out in NHPR’s original investigation.
It isn’t clear if MacDonald submitted a so-called proffer letter, or if he agreed to an interview with prosecutors as part of their review.
Martin remains employed by the Judicial Branch, serving now as the head of the Office of Bar Admissions, which processes applications for new lawyers looking to practice in the state. The position reports directly to the chief justice.
