The former executive director of Davis Mental Health won't get paid for his vacation or sick leave until board members decide how much he should get.
The Davis Mental Health Board is reviewing the benefits Dr. Russell A. Williams accrued at the center over 23 years to determine if the totals are accurately calculated and if he should repay any money to the agency.Williams resigned as director of the nonprofit agency earlier this month after a state legislative audit alleged he made an extra $80,000 in his job between 1993 and 1996 and was overpaid $29,500.
Williams has hired Salt Lake attorney Stan Preston to pursue the benefits.
"Those are wages which he has earned. We've made a demand for those," Preston said.
Preston said the board's action is "an extreme measure" and his client may sue or appeal to the Utah Industrial Commission.
"I think those monies are earned and owed me," Williams said.
Williams, 56, declined to say how much he is owed, but said "it is a meaningful sum of money."
Williams worked 28 years under the state retirement system and has applied to the state's Retirement Board for those benefits. Under the Utah Retirement System state employees receive a 2 percent yearly accrual, so after 30 years they would receive 60 percent of their average annual wage.
In 1996, Williams received a total salary package of $111,876.
"Dr. Williams unilaterally resigned and there was no agreement regarding any payments as a condition to that resignation," said mental health board member Read Hellewell but added the board has no input on Williams' state retirement.
Hellewell said the board is conducting a national search for Williams' replacement, which he expects will take another couple of months.
A 73-page audit released Nov. 17 alleged Williams overcharged the center for airfare costs, filed multiple bills for the same expenses, received reimbursements for his wife's expenses on his business trips and personal extensions of those trips.
The Utah Attorney General's office is still investigating Williams.
Williams said it was the board's responsibility to make the decisions regarding his travel and the salary he received and is frustrated by the state's second-guessing.
"The board sets my salary. They do that based on the private sector," he said.
Williams said he worked 60-hour weeks operating Davis Mental Health like a private agency, making it more efficient and saving taxpayers' money, but the audit treated it as a county agency.