Ousted DOT head hired by construction management firm

Former state Transportation Commissioner Joseph F. Marie has been hired by a multinational engineering and construction management firm, working from the company's office in Boston.

Marie, former rail administrator in Minnesota and Arizona before coming to Connecticut in 2008, was abruptly forced out of office by top aides to Gov. M. Jodi Rell in June, after a still unidentified coworker filed a complaint with the governor's office.

A spokeswoman for The Shaw Group, Inc., based in Baton Rouge, La., confirmed Marie's hiring on Thursday evening. Details about his job description were not available, said the company's director of corporate communications, Gentry Brann.

Shaw has been the project manager overseeing the improvements to the DOT's New Haven Railyard since early 2008, before Marie was hired as commissioner, Brann said.

In keeping with state laws regulating contractors and public officials, Marie will not work in Connecticut, she said, and did not sign any contracts with the company while he served as commissioner.

Marie accepted Shaw's job offer Thursday, Brann said, but it was not yet clear when he would begin work in Boston.

The company, whose diversified activities range from highway widening to engineering work at nuclear power plants, including Millstone Nuclear Power Station, was also responsible for engineering work at the new Yankee Stadium Station on the Metro-North commuter rail line.

Marie's number at his home in West Hartford is unlisted, and a former cell listing is no longer operable.

State officials have continually declined to detail the nature of the complaint for which Marie was dismissed.

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