A report released this week by the New York State Inspector General alleges that a former US surgeon used state employees as personal servants while heading the New York State Department of Health.

 

Antonia C. Novello, 64, was the commissioner of the New York State Department of Health from 1999 to 2006. She now is vice president of Women and Children Health and Policy Affairs at Disney Children's Hospital in Orlando.

 

The report accuses Novello that she ordered her employees to do her shopping, water her plants, drive her and her friends, move furniture and the list doesn’t end here. She “shamelessly and blatantly exploited and abused her staff, adding a new dimension to the definition of ‘arrogance’ and ‘chutzpah,’” Inspector General Joseph Fisch said.

 

The employees had to work about 2,500 hours more for personal tasks, costing the state $48,000, according to allegations turned over to Albany County District Attorney David Soares for possible criminal prosecution.

 

Novello fired back and denied the allegation saying she was never given the possibility to defend herself.

 

Furthermore, her lawyer E. Stuart Jones said the report is “hearsay upon hearsay, upon hearsay. Dr. Novello did not testify, she was not notified of the report before it was released.”

 

Novello’s case is not singular in the history of the United States. Back in 2006, former State Comproller Alan G. Hevesi, admitted that he had used state workers to drive his ailing wife.