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$93,803 a Year to Do Nothing

Posted by samzenpus on from the twice-as-busy-as-congress dept.

According to Randall Hinton he is paid $93,803 a year to do nothing. As an employee of the New York State Insurance Fund his work day consists of: listening to rock 'n' roll, blues or classical tunes and placing his feet up on his desk, staring out his office window and counting cars on the New York State Thruway. He sees no one and talks to no one at work and it's been this way for almost a decade. Since February 2002, Hinton has been director of investigations for the Insurance Fund, but he said he has never been allowed to investigate anything. Hinton contends he is without portfolio as retaliation for suing Gov. George Pataki's administration 10 years ago. In a January 2002 settlement in his suit against then-DEC Commissioner John Cahill (who later became Pataki's top deputy) and then-Assistant DEC Commissioner James W. Tuffey (now Albany's police chief) he was guaranteed state employment as a director of investigations. If I were Randall, I would enjoy my exile, but he's a bit more ambitious and has filed a complaint with the Division of Human Rights claiming discrimination stemming from the retaliation of his original claim against the DEC.

20 comments

  1. Almost ten years??? by Dekortage · · Score: 2, Funny

    "It's been this way for Hinton for most of this decade." So now that he's earned almost a million bucks, plus retirement and benefits, he's coming forward. What a guy!

    Wife: "So honey, how was work today?"

    Hinton: "It was really tough. They kept playing lousy music on the radio, and the commercials were terrible! At least I finished learning French on tape."

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    1. Re:Almost ten years??? by PingPongBoy · · Score: 1

      Can we say so what? Why criticize this guy so much? He doesn't do worse than many other highly paid people, if one were to just take a look around.

      BTW, we might have something to say about the system that allows and enforces this. Then again, I've heard of street punks that sue cops and get tens of thousands in payout just to make them leave the system alone, so perhaps we have to applaud making this guy get out of bed daily for his money.

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  2. I guess it has its downsides... by Het+Irv · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I say count your blessings and get a hobby that you can do while at work. Not many people can say they get paid to do whatever they want. I guess after ten years the boredom would get to me as well though.

    1. Re:I guess it has its downsides... by Phantom+Zmoove · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure 10 years of being paid to do nothing would quite push me over the edge of causing a ruckus about not having to do anything. Maybe after 20 years or something, hard to say really without trying.

    2. Re:I guess it has its downsides... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I could get so much reading... so many projects... so much research... done in that kind of time. And get paid well to boot. It would be like tenure.

    3. Re:I guess it has its downsides... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It was only for two years that he did nothing. Rtfa. Wait this is the bottom of a shallow slashdot barrel. Carry on.

    4. Re:I guess it has its downsides... by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      Wouldn't be so bad, as long as I had a computer at my desk.

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  3. So? Algore gets paid millikons to do nothing. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well, almost nothing. He does get to jet around and live a life of luxury the rest of us can only dream of, all while condemning us for our apostacy from the Church of Gaia.

    1. Re:So? Algore gets paid millikons to do nothing. by ricegf · · Score: 1

      I wish all politicians would take a cue from Algore and Hinton. Every time they "do something", something else gets screwed up.

  4. Doing nothing? by Sadza · · Score: 1

    He'll probably develop some sort of dementia soon. Move along, folks.

    But then again, doing nothing sounds oddly familiar...

  5. Violin by fyoder · · Score: 1

    He should use the time to learn violin. Depending on how thin his office walls are, they may send him out on investigations soon enough. Otherwise, if he's got years to spend and it takes years to learn the violin, seems like a good match.

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  6. What an idiot... by WCLPeter · · Score: 1

    I read the article and it basically boils down to this:

    He sued the state. The people who got in trouble eventually became his boss. They couldn't fire him, so they stuck him in a back corner and basically forgot about him. Now years later, after collecting all kinds of cash, he's kicking up a ruckus so that they'll give him "meaningful" work again.

    What an idiot. Really, what... an... idiot...

    He has the "dream job". He gets paid to do nothing. I would *love* a job like that. Give me a laptop, so I can "work from home" and they'd never have to worry about me again.

    Travel, learn an instrument, write a novel, take a swimming class, etc... It'd be like paid retirement. I'd be happy to retire now. No, I won't get bored; I've got enough imagination to figure out what to do with free money and lots of time.

    I always feel profound sadness when people look at me with complete shock when I tell them, at 35, I want to retire now. It's painful to think that so many people simply lack the necessary imagination to figure out what to do with their time when they're not working.

    1. Re:What an idiot... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Amen Brother!

    2. Re:What an idiot... by Nebulious · · Score: 1

      I'm pretty sure he would get fired if he didn't show up at the office and other stupid things. This is supposed to be a revenge, so there must be strings attached. If you actually read the full article twice you'd see he's given trivial and tedious work as as bare minimum. Also, some people actually enjoy their their work. Taking that away is the worst thing you can do to them.

    3. Re:What an idiot... by WCLPeter · · Score: 1

      This is supposed to be a revenge, so there must be strings attached. If you actually read the full article twice you'd see he's given trivial and tedious work as as bare minimum.

      While it is true that there were probably some strings attached, I also doubt his employers would have been overly concerned had he decided not to show up for work every now and again. Continued employment was part of his original settlement, and as long as he could have adequately proven he *was* doing the little work that he was being given, there's really nothing his employers legally could have done to get him.

      Also, some people actually enjoy their their work. Taking that away is the worst thing you can do to them.

      It *is* true that *some* people do enjoy working. It certainly helps to love what you're doing to become a doctor, teacher, farmer, astronaut, or join any other "non standard" profession. I truly envy those types of people for their ability to do something I've tried and can't do [bloody things make me nauseous, being a man who wants to work with kids is frowned upon, I hate getting dirty (and the smell of manure), I get airsick in cars (not mention amusement rides)].

      Still, if you asked, the vast majority of people, assuming they're honest with themselves, would retire in a heartbeat if they knew their material and entertainment needs would be met.

      Me? I'd love to be a bench warmer for a baseball team. You know the type, the guy who blows his shoulder three weeks into spring training and can't hit, throw, or do anything. So he sits on the bench for two years, collecting a couple of million dollars, until his contract runs out and he's cut loose.

      Since I can't even play ball to begin with, and the whole robbery thing doesn't appeal to me [outside of GTA], I have to rely on the lottery if I want to retire now. I know it's a pipe dream to win the lottery but I still play because hey, you never know, it's currently my best chance of doing it before I'm 65. I mean it's not as though some scientist is close to a breakthrough in developing Star Trek replicators that will free everyone from the mundane boredom and abject wage slavery that the working world is.

      Did I mention how much of an idiot this guy was? He was basically "free", like only the rich seem to be able to do, with only a few conditions to it. All he had to do was shut up and enjoy his life. Instead he shits all over the incredible gift of freedom and security he's been given while whining that the work he *does* get to do is meaningless.

    4. Re:What an idiot... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Makes perfect sense to want to retire at 35. Why would you wait until you're 65? First, you might not make it to 65, second, you're still flexible and your body is in good enough physical condition that you can train for anything you wanted to do. You could handle severe jet lag from flying around the world, or spend time training to rock climb or mountain climb, or your mind is sharp enough for you to pursue intellectual tasks, like learning a language.

  7. what the hell? by timmarhy · · Score: 1
    some people don't know when they are on a good thing, seriously.

    if your reading this, you can have my job and i'll take yours.

    i suspect this is him attempting to get yet more free cash though, pay him out and get him to quit that way. after all he could have quit long ago but by his own choice he has stayed. actually now that i think about it what an asshole...

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  8. Got any vacancies ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now that's what I call a job !

  9. Telecommute! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why not get a telecommute job... and continue working there? then you could have 2x93k a year.

  10. Office space by operagost · · Score: 1

    He shouldn't complain. I had this happen to me, but suddenly they "fixed the glitch", so I stopped getting my paycheck. They also had the audacity to take my Swingline stapler, which is superior to the Bostich and with which I had used Swingline brand staples purchased out of my own pocket to maintain compatibility. Unfortunately, I had no recourse but to set the building on fire.

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