Former Worker Receives His Final Paycheck: 1 Cent
A state worker who had been laid off got his final paycheck--one penny.
The envelope included a form letter soliciting donations for Connecticut’s poor and a request that Louis Morelli repay $41 he was overpaid in 1985.
“Maybe he wants to take back the penny he gave me,” Morelli said of Public Safety Commissioner Nicholas A. Cioffi, whose office mailed the letter. Morelli, 64, said he had already reimbursed the $41.
Morelli, who had worked for the state for six years, was one of eight weigh station inspectors laid off this fall when talks between state employee unions and Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. stalled. Weicker has been seeking union concessions to balance the state budget.
The 1-cent check sent to Morelli this week was to compensate him for working a different shift from his regular one. He was due $20.80 for the shift differential, but after deductions--including $10.85 for union dues--a penny was all that was left.
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