The first casualty of Wayne County's severance scandal was already off the payroll when Executive Robert Ficano "terminated" him, documents obtained by the Detroit News show.

Ficano announced on Oct. 14 that he was firing former personnel director Tim Taylor for his role in a $200,000 severance to Turkia Mullin, the county's ex-economic development director.

But Taylor's employment agreement as a consultant making $56.28 an hour expired the day before, according to his personnel file that The Detroit News obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

That makes Ficano's claims of punishing those responsible "disingenuous," said Commissioner Laura Cox, R-Livonia.

"That's baloney. It's ridiculous to terminate somebody whose contract had expired," Cox said. "It's misleading taxpayers to say he is taking action, when he is taking no action."