Outgoing Gov. Charlie Baker’s mark on the Department of Industrial Accidents is poised to carry on for more than six years, after the governor last week issued 10 nominations for quasi-judicial boards that hear worker’s compensation cases. The positions come with terms set to expire as late as April 2029.
Baker tapped Edward McGrath, currently chief administrative magistrate of the state Division of Administrative Law Appeals, for a seat on the Industrial Accident Board; and Kevin O’Leary, general counsel to the Department of Industrial Accidents for most of Baker’s time in office, for a post on the Industrial Accident Reviewing Board.
The other eight nominations are reappointments that, if confirmed by the Governor’s Council, would grant new six-year terms to administrative judges on the IAB.
Of those, six were first appointed by Baker and started their service in 2017: A. Ninoska Rosado, Lauren Bergheimer, Ann McNamara, Martin Long, Marguerite O’Neill, and Joseph Spinale. Two have served since 2004 and were originally appointed by Gov. Mitt Romney: Bernard Fabricant and Steven Rose.
The Governor’s Council has final approval power over the governor’s judicial and quasi-judicial nominations, and recent bursts of lame-duck appointments have left it with a jam-packed agenda. Next Wednesday’s council schedule features three hearings on previously-announced clerk magistrate candidates at 9 a.m., 10 a.m., and 11 a.m., followed by interviews with four of the Industrial Accident Board nominees (Spinale, Rosado, Bergheimer, and O’Neill) at 12 p.m., 12:30 p.m., 12:45 p.m., and 1 p.m.




