State Auditor Diana DiZoglio is planning to sue Massport. Here’s why.

Local News

DiZoglio released the results of an audit this week that examined the use of settlement agreements at Massport and other agencies.

State Auditor Diana DiZoglio said Wednesday that she is planning to sue the Massachusetts Port Authority, alleging it improperly kept certain records from her office. This news came as DiZoglio detailed the results of a broad audit of settlement agreements that focused on 21 different state agencies. 

The audit found that most of these agencies lacked adequate policies regarding state employee settlement agreements. These 21 agencies, which include quasi-state agencies like Massport and a number of community colleges and state universities, entered into at least 263 settlement agreements during a period stretching from the beginning of 2019 through the end of 2024. About $6.8 million in taxpayer funds were used in these settlements, according to DiZoglio’s office. 

Officials specifically singled out a $1.375 million settlement executed by Massport in 2022. Included in this settlement was a confidentiality and non-disparagement agreement that concealed allegations like “gender-based discrimination, disability-based discrimination, unequal pay, disparate treatment, and publishing false, damaging statements,” according to DiZoglio’s office. 

Massport and Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office improperly shared sensitive information about the audit with employees and retirees not involved in the audit, jeopardizing the integrity of the process, DiZoglio said at a press conference. These agencies “invited employees to object to the audit,” she said. 

During the process, auditors requested that Massport confirm that a list of settlement agreements it shared with them was complete and accurate. During this “Data Reliability Assessment,” Massport sent notifications to employees that gave them the opportunity to object to DiZoglio’s office accessing their personnel records. Massport cited a law known as the Fair Information Practices Act in sending out these notifications. 

Ten individuals told Massport that they objected, and the agency only provided auditors with a list of those individuals and the dates on which they objected, not their full records. DiZoglio’s office asserts that this was an unlawful assertion of FIPA that could enable employees to hide inappropriate behavior from oversight. Further, DiZoglio’s office said that Massport was “seemingly taking its cue” from Campbell’s office and Gov. Maura Healey’s office in citing FIPA to withhold records. 

“It appears as though [Campbell’s office] has helped create the beginning of a potential trend where agencies not wishing to provide records to our office will be coached and empowered by [Campbell’s office] to go against the law that grants our office access to these records,” auditors wrote. 

This “misinterpretation” of FIPA by Campbell’s office, Healey’s office, and Massport are setting a “dangerous precedent” for the future, DiZoglio said. 

The audit included a response from Campbell’s office, saying it has sent out FIPA notifications because it has a legal obligation to do so. DiZoglio’s office requested to review 116 personnel records from Campbell’s office in April 2025, and auditors were able to review all of these files by the following month, even with Campbell’s office following the FIPA notification process. 

In one part of the audit, DiZoglio’s office suggested that Campbell’s office gave FIPA notice as “an intentional attempt to coerce or pressure” auditors to back away from reviewing certain records that Campbell’s office “may prefer to keep hidden.” 

Campbell’s office said that this suggestion is “flatly untrue, deliberately provocative,” and “not supported by the facts.” The inclusion of this section is “reflective of bad faith so substantial as to call into question [DiZoglio’s] objectivity in conducting this audit,” Campbell’s office wrote. 

“The audit confirms that the AGO leads the way in following state law and best practices when it comes to settlement agreements. State law requires agencies holding personal data to notify the data subjects when their personal information is requested. After providing notice to the affected individuals, the AGO gave the Auditor’s staff access to every personnel file they requested,” a spokesperson for Campbell said in a statement to Boston.com. 

Massport also responded in the audit, saying that it believes the FIPA notices were required by law and that auditors were “able to review the great majority of personnel files that [they] had selected.” 

In a statement to Boston.com, Massport spokesperson Jennifer Mehigan said that there were “a few inaccuracies” in information disseminated by DiZoglio. The authority had been fully cooperative with auditors throughout the “unusually lengthy process,” she said. Massport does not operate using taxpayer funds, with the exception of specific infrastructure grants, Mehigan added. More than 100 current and former employees were sent FIPA notices, and a “small number” objected, “which is their right,” she said. 

The press conference DiZoglio held Wednesday was the first time that Massport officials were informed about the impending lawsuit, Mehigan said. The authority has not yet been served or seen a complaint by DiZoglio’s office. 

DiZoglio called on Campbell to allow her office to choose its own attorney in the litigation against Massport. Campbell’s office is “conflicted out” of representing the auditor due to Campbell’s history of invoking FIPA and advising the governor to do so, DiZoglio said. 

DiZoglio also called on Healey and state lawmakers to pass legislation that would ban the “abuse” of nondisclosure agreements. 

Last year, Healey issued a formal policy banning the use of nondisclosure agreements across the executive branch offices. This came a day before DiZoglio released an audit examining the use of settlement agreements within the governor’s office. 

Massport has voluntarily adopted a no-NDA policy consistent with Healey’s executive order from last year, Mehigan said. 

“Taxpayer-funded nondisclosure agreements continue to be used across state agencies and can provide cover for alleged unlawful and unethical behavior,” DiZoglio said in a statement. “While this Administration’s new policies pertaining to the use of these agreements have been a somewhat helpful first step, it is unacceptable that the Legislature and Governor have still not yet worked to pass a law banning the abuse of taxpayer-funded nondisclosure agreements. It’s beyond past time that we stop allowing taxpayer dollars to fund the silencing of public employees across this Commonwealth.”