Federal Reports

An Amtrak Maintainer based in Newark, New Jersey, and a Trainer based in Sunnyside, New York, were terminated after their disciplinary hearings on October 4, 2022. The two former employees conspired with another employee, Keith Kovaleski, to sell misbranded and unapproved new drugs. The Maintainer violated company policies by ordering misbranded and/or unapproved new drugs from Kovaleski’s company, All American Peptide (AAP), and by accepting shipments of these products on behalf of Kovaleski. The Trainer violated company policies by regularly ordering misbranded and/or unapproved new drugs from AAP and reselling them to the public. Kovaleski, an Assistant Foreman based in New York, is currently awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty on March 21, 2022, to selling misbranded and unapproved new drugs. The two former employees are ineligible for rehire.

Every Postal Service-owned vehicle is assigned a Voyager Fleet card (Voyager card) to pay for its commercially purchased fuel, oil, and routine maintenance. Vehicles certified for unleaded gasoline are required to be fueled with unleaded regular or gasohol. A fuel consisting of a blend usually of 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline. Vehicles can be fueled with gasohol when the price per gallon is equal to or less than the price of unleaded regular gasoline.Controls over fuel purchases and PINs are crucial in maintaining the integrity of the program to control costs. Postal Service policy provides guidance over the assignment, use, and monitoring of PINs and reconciliation of Voyager card transactions.

The Office of the Inspector General conducted a review of Kingston Fossil Plant (KIF) organization to identify factors that could impact KIF’s organizational effectiveness. During our evaluation, plant personnel informed us that interactions with management and between coworkers were generally positive, although behavioral concerns regarding one individual were identified. In addition, plant personnel expressed concerns regarding (1) condition of assets, (2) staffing challenges, and (3) communication related to the future of KIF.

An Amtrak employee based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was terminated from employment on October 5, 2022, after our investigation found that the employee violated company policies by posting inappropriate and offensive language and images on her publicly available Facebook account that also identified her as a company employee. The former employee admitted to posting the language and images, which she acknowledged could be deemed as offensive and inappropriate by customers and other employees. In addition, the former employee also admitted to accepting a gift from a customer that she stated was valued at $300, also in violation of company policy.