"As he tells it, Randall Hinton is paid $93,803 a year to do nothing.

He spends much of his workday at the State Insurance Fund donning headphones, listening to rock 'n' roll, blues or classical tunes and his superiors are cool with that.

His work agenda involves placing his feet up on his desk, staring out his office window and counting cars on the New York State Thruway. He arrives at 7:30 a.m., leaves at 3:30 p.m., sees no one and talks to no one.

He never does any work. It's been this way for Hinton for most of this decade.

"I just sit here," said Hinton, 55, of Niskayuna, a 27-year state employee who has held several high-level posts at various agencies.

At 6 feet 4 inches and 265 pounds he is an imposing figure who will begin to tear up when he discusses his situation. A member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe in Maine, he said he is being discriminated against because of his national origin and retaliated against for having sued the state.

Since February 2002, Hinton has been director of investigations for the Insurance Fund, but he said he has never been allowed to investigate anything. Instead, he builds up pension credits, year after year, but is unproductive at work because his superiors are blackballing him, he and his former boss say."

Get the Story:
James M. Odato: State employee: I get $93,803 for no work (The Albany Times-Union 2/5)