The embattled human resources director at the Boston Water and Sewer Commission no longer works for the agency, a spokesperson confirmed this week.
Marie A. Theodat had been on leave amid ongoing civil litigation that alleges she swindled a house away from an elderly relative who suffers from dementia in 2022. Last year, a trio of unions pushed for Theodat to be sidelined from her day-to-day duties during that court battle.
Dolores Randolph, a spokesperson for the commission, said this week that Theodat no longer works at the commission and that her last day was April 18. The commission did not respond to questions about whether she was fired or if she left of her own volition. It’s also unclear if she received any severance. The Boston Herald first reported news of Theodat’s departure.
A message left with an attorney representing Theodat — who saw her pay climb 27 percent from $158,000 in 2022 to $202,000 in February last year — was not immediately returned Thursday. Attempts to reach Theodat directly were not successful.
A legal complaint, filed last August, alleges that Theodat and others “conspired and designed an elaborate scheme to defraud and take advantage of” an elderly couple and rob them of their Boston property.
The couple, Rodolphe St. Cloud and Marthe Jeudi, are both around 90 years old and suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. Neither can speak, write, or read in English, according to litigation. St. Cloud, who lived in the home as of last summer, when a legal complaint was filed, is the lead plaintiff in a suit that names Theodat as a defendant. Jeudi, along with St. Cloud, was at one point listed as the owner of the home, according to a complaint. She now lives in a care facility.
Attorneys for St. Cloud allege that Theodat inserted herself into his affairs under the “guise of aiding and supporting him” through his mental health struggles. Theodat is St. Cloud’s grandniece.
Theodat brought St. Cloud to doctor’s appointments and assisted with his health care to gain his trust, the suit alleges. Ultimately, it alleges that Theodat “fraudulently induced him to sign a deed that conveyed the property” to a limited liability corporation that Theodat controlled for less than $100. At the time, the property had an estimated market value of $1.1 million.
After taking over the deed, Theodat’s limited liability corporation then used the Fuller Street home to secure a $2 million mortgage, according to the lawsuit. On the same day, the corporation signed a mortgage agreement for a property on Beacon Street in Newton, the complaint says.
Lawyers for St. Cloud also allege that Jeudi’s signature was forged on a deed.
“Theodat’s action of fraudulently misrepresenting the deed was intentional and criminal,” reads one civil complaint.
The commission, a quasi-governmental agency that receives the bulk of its budget from ratepayers, manages the largest and oldest infrastructure system of its kind in New England, providing drinking water and sewer services to more than a million people daily. It’s overseen by a three-member board of commissioners that is appointed by the city’s mayor with the approval of the City Council, although the agency was created by the state Legislature decades ago and is considered separate and apart from the city. It employs about 450 people.
Theodat’s departure comes during a controversial time at the agency, which continues to be buffeted by questions of nepotism. In January, the commission fired prominent South Boston politician Michael Flaherty after the former city councilor had a falling-out with the agency’s executive director, Henry Vitale, according to the commission.
The agency has also signed off on spending $850,000 for a law firm that undertook an internal investigation of the commission in recent months. The crux of that internal probe remains unclear, and spokespeople for the commission ignored questions regarding whether that investigation is still ongoing this week.
Danny McDonald can be reached at daniel.mcdonald@globe.com. Follow him @Danny__McDonald.