Mass Public Retirees Prohibited Full-Time Employment With Quasi-Public Employers.
In Pellegrino v. Springfield Parking Authority (May 17, 2007), the Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed that retirees from Massachusetts public employment cannot work for another state or local public employer in Massachusetts, including quasi-public agencies. Under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 32, § 91, individuals collecting benefits from a state or local retirement program generally cannot be paid for services rendered to another public employer. The limited exceptions to this ban on post-retirement public employment include when a retiree waives his right to retirement allowance during the period of post-retirement enrollment, or when the retiree works no more than 960 hours and earns no more between employment and retirement than the current salary for the position from which the former employee retired.
While the above rule is relatively straightforward, Kathleen Pellegrino argued that this prohibition on post-retirement employment applies only to public retirees who work for the state or local governments and not to public retirees who work for quasi-public entities such as the Springfield Parking Authority. The court disagreed.