The reason "hiring your boss" sucked hard is because your boss was paid a lot more than you, right? What if he/she was a great manager but was actually paid on the same scale as you, and you were all advancing in pay with years of contribution?
LOL true story: a couple of companies ago my team were tasked with hiring our new manager, because none of us wanted the job. We had one candidate who came in and said "well this is very unusual for workers to interview managers, the first thing I'll do is put a stop to that".
If how much the person you are hiring gets paid relative to you is a criterion, you should not be part of the hiring process.
I have hired people at salaries greater and lesser than mine. Occasionally, the person above me was earning less than me and in several cases the person under me was earning significantly more than me.
The only question should be: is the person in the correct position and earning the amount they are being paid.
