Speros Batistatos, former head of the South Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau, is shown in his backyard of his St. John home on Saturday, July 16, 2022.
“Between 2014 and 2021, Batistatos received over $200,000 from the SSCVA in Vacation Day buy-backs that were accrued by his erroneous and deceptive reporting of time off,” the suit reads. “Batistatos was aware that he had not properly earned the benefits he entered on his time records.” “The above listed cash out for the funding of his VALIC annuity shall not exceed forty five days per calendar year. No other vacation day cash out shall be allowed absent severance/termination from the .”
The suit named the SSCVA as well as its board chairman Andy Qunell, and several individual board members including Matt Schuffert, Brent Brashier, Tom Dabertin and Matt Maloney. In it, Batistatos claimed the SSCVA board engaged an outside attorney to renegotiate his contract, which was to expire Dec. 31, 2022, as well as formed a compensation committee to assist in the renegotiation.
The suit also alleged the SSCVA board misspent PPP funds when it disbursed “no strings attached” expenditures of $25,000 each to 15 different municipalities in violation of the CARES Act. The law required 60% of PPP funds to be used for payroll and the remaining 40% for overhead. The SSCVA received about $388,500 in PPP funds. The board has disputed this claim.