Nashville officials are debating a potential cut to former bodyguard Robert Forrest’s pension, following his affair with ex-Mayor Megan Barry and his subsequent decision to retire from his public position. The Nashville Employee Benefits Board has sole authority over setting the terms of the police sergeant’s pension, although Forrest may appeal the decision if he deems it unfair.
After Forrest pleaded guilty to theft, he agreed to return $45,000 to Metro for illegal overtime, hours spent personally, rather than professionally, with Barry. The process of determining the restitution remains unknown to both the Department of Law and the Nashville Employee Benefits Board.
Metro’s Law Director Jon Cooper is skeptical as to whether the figure is a correct total of illegal hours.
“So that $45,000, I don’t know if that’s an accurate representation of the amount of questionable overtime, or if that was just some agreement,” said Cooper.
It appears as if the payback will have consequences for the bodyguard’s pension — if he worked less than reported, the city owes him a lower monthly payment.
Since the payout, an internal auditor has been probing into Forrest’s past to tally the true number of hours improperly reported as overtime. In a board meeting, Cooper expressed doubt that it’s even possible to reach a single number.
“It is doubtful that the internal auditor will be able to come to a specific number of hours that were billed as overtime that should not have been,” said Cooper.
This leads the board into a tough spot, torn between taking the $45,000 figure at face value or waiting for the results of the investigation. This uncertainty has led board member Jerry Hall to suggest they reduce Forrest’s pension based on the information that is currently available.
“At the next meeting, I would want to have everything calculated minus that $45,000,” said Hall. “I would hate for Sgt. Forrest to get a check every month for the next 11 months and then for us to come back and say, you need to repay this. We know that $45,000 is not going to change. If any internal auditor comes forward at some point and says there’s a difference, we can address that at that time.”
Other board members remained quiet when asked to express their opinion.
The board is treading carefully, aware that a decision could be appealed. Sgt. Forrest and his attorney were in attendance and monitoring the talks, and they plan to attend additional meetings in the future.
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