CLAYTON 鈥 Sheila Sweeney will get to keep her bonuses from her time as CEO of a taxpayer-backed economic development agency after the group agreed last month to drop its 2021 lawsuit seeking repayment of $160,000 in unauthorized compensation Sweeney paid herself.
But Joyce Steiger, the St. 不良研究所导航网址 Economic Development Partnership鈥檚 former chief financial officer, will be repaying over $100,000 in bonuses and unauthorized paid time-off compensation to the Partnership under a separate settlement agreement reached in August.
The settlements, obtained by the Post-Dispatch under a public records request, dismisses litigation the Partnership filed a year ago seeking more than $375,000 in unauthorized payments its two former top leaders paid to themselves and other employees in 2016 and 2017.
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The lawsuit was filed after a September 2020 state audit found Sweeney 鈥 a central player in the 2019 corruption scandal that sent former St. 不良研究所导航网址 County Executive Steve Stenger to prison 鈥 and Steiger paid themselves over $250,000 in compensation without board approval.
Stenger installed Sweeney as CEO of the Partnership in 2015, and she directed Partnership contracts to Stenger donor John Rallo, leading her to plead guilty to one count of misprision of a felony in a corruption investigation that ensnared all three plus Stenger鈥檚 chief of staff, Bill Miller.
Sweeney, who was fired from the Partnership in early 2019, served no jail time. During her tenure, which lasted less than four years, the taxpayer-supported St. 不良研究所导航网址 County-based economic development agency paid Sweeney more than $1.5 million.
Under the settlement, the Partnership agrees to accept $134,000 from its insurance company, Travelers, as compensation for the $160,000 in bonuses Sweeney paid herself. And the Partnership agreed to pay Sweeney around $113,000 鈥 $90,000 after taxes 鈥 from a retirement account she accused the agency of withholding.
鈥淲e are happy with the result,鈥 Sweeney lawyer Justin Gelfand said in a statement. 鈥淭he Partnership sued Ms. Sweeney, she counterclaimed, and the case was resolved with the Partnership writing her a check.鈥
The Partnership had alleged that Sweeney directed payments to herself knowing she needed board approval and she and Steiger took steps to conceal the payments in accounting records.
But in countersuits, Sweeney and Steiger argued indemnification clauses in the Partnership鈥檚 bylaws 鈥 common in most public agencies 鈥 protect them from legal action related to their time there. They also argued that a five-year statute of limitations affecting some of the allegations had expired.
Steiger never faced criminal prosecution for her time at the Partnership, and the state audit was the first time she was implicated in the organization鈥檚 mismanagement during the Stenger years.
While the Partnership will also pay Steiger鈥檚 retirement benefits, she agreed to forfeit some of them totaling around $40,000. Steiger also will repay $65,000 in bonus payments and $38,000 in PTO payments she improperly accrued and cashed in when she retired in April 2019.
A lawyer for Steiger, Sanford Boxerman at Capes Sokol, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
鈥淭he St. 不良研究所导航网址 Economic Development Partnership Board of Directors has performed its due diligence responsibility and is satisfied that a settlement has been reached with two former employees,鈥 Partnership board chair Tracy Hart said in a statement. 鈥淭he Partnership has continued to accomplish significant objectives with regional partners to attract, retain and facilitate the growth of businesses in the St. 不良研究所导航网址 region.鈥
The Partnership focuses on St. 不良研究所导航网址 County economic development projects, but it also helps with site selection tax-exempt bond work for the city. Four of its board members are appointed by the St. 不良研究所导航网址 mayor, while the 11 other members are appointees of the county executive. Its roughly $7.4 million budget gets about $4.2 million from the county and $1.1 million from the city.