Jean Henry, a well-known worker in the halls of the state Capitol, has filed a federal lawsuit against Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, saying she was wrongfully dismissed from her job.
Henry, a Republican, was a liaison between the legislature and the state Office of Policy and Management under former Republican Governors John G. Rowland and M. Jodi Rell. She was reassigned soon after Malloy became the first Democratic governor in 20 years.
Henry had been earning about $100,000 per year at OPM, but she was switched to the chief medical examiner's office at a salary of about $56,000, according to the suit.
The Courant's longtime federal court reporter, Edmund H. Mahony, reported that the attorney general's office says the suit is meritless.
"We don't believe that the lawsuit has any factual or legal merit, and we will respond in court at the appropriate time,'' a spokesman said.