BEST PAID STATE EMPLOYEES include (clockwise from top left) Dr. Michael Rapoport (#3), Dr. Michael Saroyan (#5), Gov. Phil Scott (#6), and Dr. Elizabeth Bundock (#1).
By Guy Page
Most of the 56 state employees earning over $200,000 are judges. The top five, however, are physicians, according to the latest data available on the State of Vermont website.
The top earner (see table below exported from State of Vermont Employee Salaries page) is Dr. Elizabeth Bundock, the Chief Medical Examiner, at $332,571. The second best paid state employer ($266,386) is Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kathleen McCubbin. Another Deputy Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Elaine Amoresano, is the fourth best paid at $251,597.
The mission of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) is to ensure superior death investigations in an efficient system that and serves the needs of the Vermont citizens, the OCME website says. “We do this by collecting and providing the best possible data to inform decisions at the individual, community, program and policy levels.”
The office works “with local and state agencies to provide accurate and complete assessments of deaths that happen in Vermont. Our goal is to provide technically excellent and timely services, with compassion and sensitivity for the special needs of bereaved families,” the site says.
Two Scott administration ‘exempt’ appointees to the Vermont Health Access program are #3 and #5 respectively: Medicaid Medical Director Michael Rapaport ($255,756) and John Saroyan (Director, Blueprint for Health).
Saroyan ($235,331) has had a lengthy career in medicine including palliative care for children. “After the untimely death of a favorite teacher’s son in 1988, I applied to a unique mentorship program in San Francisco for high school students and was paired with a pediatric oncologist for seven weeks of my summer vacation,” according to a Vermont Medical Society statement.
Exempt employees are typically salaried workers who are not entitled to overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), while classified employees usually refer to those whose job roles and pay structures are defined by specific categories, which may include both exempt and non-exempt classifications.
Gov. Phil Scott, who definitely works more than the standard work week, weighs in at #6 with $226,012. The contractor and race car driver is neither doctor nor lawyer. Wendy Shapiro, CEO of the Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital and also neither doctor nor lawyer, earns $213,096.
Likely due to the need to pay competitive salaries to attract competent talent in the the legal profession, virtually every other $200K-plus state employee is a judge and one-time practicing lawyer, including Ed McNamara, lawyer and Chair of the Vermont Public Utility Commission, the state’s energy and utilities court and regulator. Holding a judge-ish position is former litigator Owen Foster, Chair of the Green Mountain Care Board, the state’s health care regulatory board.
Top earning State of Vermont employees
| Name | Job Title | Department | Job Type | Salary | Salary Type |
| Bundock,Elizabeth | Chief Medical Examiner | Health | Classified | 332571.2 | Annual |
| McCubbin,Kathleen | Deputy Chief Medical Examiner | Health | Classified | 266385.6 | Annual |
| Rapaport,Michael | Medicaid Medical Director | Vermont Health Access | Exempt | 255756.8 | Annual |
| Amoresano,Elaine | Deputy Chief Medical Examiner | Health | Classified | 251596.8 | Annual |
| Saroyan,John Meran | Director, Blueprint for Health | Vermont Health Access | Exempt | 235331.2 | Annual |
| Scott,Philip B | Governor | Executive Office | Exempt | 226012.8 | Annual |
| Reiber,Paul L | Chief Justice | Judiciary | Exempt | 225576 | Annual |
| Carroll,Karen R | Associate Justice | Judiciary | Exempt | 215280 | Annual |
| Cohen,William | Associate Justice | Judiciary | Exempt | 215280 | Annual |
| Corsones,Therese M | State Court Administrator | Judiciary | Exempt | 215280 | Annual |
| Eaton Jr.,Harold E | Associate Justice | Judiciary | Exempt | 215280 | Annual |
| Waples,Nancy | Associate Justice | Judiciary | Exempt | 215280 | Annual |
| Zonay,Thomas A | Chief Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 215280 | Annual |
| Shapiro,Wendy | Chief Executive Officer | Mental Health | Exempt | 213096 | Annual |
| Arms,Alison S | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Badgewick,Bonnie | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Barra,David A | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Barrett,Jennifer L | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Battles,Benjamin | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Burke,Alexander N | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Corbett IV,Henry D | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Corsones,Cortland T | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| DiSano,Dana | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Doherty,Timothy | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Fenster,David R | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Foster,Owen | Chair, Green Mtn Care Board | Green Mountain Care Board | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Gallagher,Kate | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Gray,Heather J | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Griffin,Kevin W | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Harris,Michael J | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Hoar,Samuel | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Jiron,Justin | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Kainen,Michael R | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Kalfus,Howard A | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Katims,Robert W | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Malone,Rachel M | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Mann,Elizabeth | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| McDonald-Cady,Kerry | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| McLean,Joseph S | Environmental Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| McManus,Susan A | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Mcnamara,Ed | Public Utility Comm Chair | Public Utility Commission | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Morrissey,Mary L | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Novotny,Elizabeth | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Pacht,John L | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Richardson,Daniel P | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Rowntree,Laura C | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Schoonover,Kirstin | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Shafritz,Megan | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Spero,Navah | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Thibault,Rory | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Tomasi,Timothy B | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Treadwell,John R | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Valente,John W | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Walsh,Thomas G | Environmental Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
| Warren,Lisa A | Superior Judge | Judiciary | Exempt | 204651.2 | Annual |
For more State of Vermont employee salary info, click on the SOV Employee Salary page and click on Export.