NYC Human Resources Administration Fires Dead Employee

New York City’s human resources administration fired an employee but had a hard time reaching him, because he had been dead since last December.

Geoffrey Toliver had left his job as a Medicaid eligibility specialist after November 12, 2013. Human resources finally fired him in July 2015 after he failed to appear at a July 1 hearing.

The agency claimed they had tried to contact Toliver for over a year by calling him and sending certified letters. NYC human resources spokesman David Neustadt told the New York Post, “We did everything we could to contact him and his family. This employee was not paid when he wasn’t working, but we left his job open in case he recovered.”

Toliver’s brother Anthony had a different story, telling the Post, “It is my understanding that… his employer was fully aware that he was not able to come back to work. It is my understanding that my brother’s family spoke directly to his supervisor during his long hospitalization and informed them of his death.” 

Toliver, 65, died of cancer Dec. 8, 2014. His death was noted online.

Human resources said that because it has been apprised of Toliver’s death, it would abandon any further action.