KEMI board votes to cut CEO’s pay following critical audit

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) – The governing board of Kentucky Employers’ Mutual Insurance has recommended its chief executive take a pay cut and lose his long-term job contract in favor of year-to-year probation.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports the action follows an audit that criticized spending practices at KEMI, including no-bid contracts and University of Kentucky athletics tickets going to top managers for no identifiable business purpose.

KEMI is Kentucky’s largest issuer of workers’ compensation insurance.

Its board of directors voted Friday to change terms of CEO Jon Stewart’s employment.

The board said it authorized the executive committee to work with Stewart to implement a probationary contract at a reduced salary for a one-year term, with opportunity for annual renewals.

Stewart had a contract that ran until May 2023. A state database lists his annual salary as $445,438.

Stewart declined to comment.