State worker union investigating former president over claims of long work weeks, high pay

Minnesota’s largest public employee union is investigating its former president after members questioned whether she was actually working the long hours she allegedly claimed at her union and state jobs.

Between her two jobs, Megan Dayton earned about $180,000 annually in recent years — far more than her predecessor.

State employees who are elected to union leadership positions typically dial back their state work as they spend more time on union duties.

But publicly available data shows Dayton, who recently left MAPE and her state positions, was paid for full-time work at the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees and more than half-time work in her state role as a senior demographer in the Department of Administration.

Several MAPE members presented data on Dayton’s state and union pay to the union’s board of directors at a recent meeting and questioned whether it was possible, said MAPE spokeswoman Ashley Erickson. That presentation motivated the board to take “swift and concrete action” by hiring an outside investigator, she said.

“All of MAPE leadership understands the seriousness of this matter and is committed to a thorough and independent investigation that will guide our next steps,” Erickson said.

A former MAPE executive is now serving as its interim president. The investigation was first reported by the Minnesota Reformer.

Dayton is now president of the American Council of Engineering Companies of Minnesota. She did not respond to multiple requests for comment but told the Minnesota Star Tribune in an interview on an unrelated topic last year that she spends “most of my time working for MAPE.”

“I have been closing out and documenting fifteen years at the State Demographic Center and five and a half years at MAPE. That process asks a lot of a person,” she also wrote in a recent social media post made after she announced her career changes. “Mentally. Emotionally. I am accounting for everything I’ve carried and everything I am choosing to leave behind.”

Her LinkedIn page also says she recently completed two advanced degrees.

Dayton was hired by the state demographer’s office in 2012 and was promoted several times, most recently serving as the state program administrator coordinator. Her highest yearly state pay was $82,322 in fiscal year 2020, just before she was elected MAPE president in July of that year.

Her state earnings declined to $46,358 in the next fiscal year. But the union more than made up for her lower state salary; MAPE paid her between $91,929 and $111,013 a year between 2021 and 2024, the organization’s tax filings show.