Investigative Reports

A Trackman in Jackson, Michigan, was terminated from employment on June 15, 2020, following an administrative hearing for violating company policy. Our investigation found that the employee submitted false information on the background questionnaire of his employment application, which was inconsistent with police investigative findings related to a previous felony criminal conviction. Specifically, the employee maintained that he was never in possession of a controlled substance, however, the court records signed by the employee confirmed that he pleaded guilty to a charge of intent to deliver controlled substances. In addition, the employee was dishonest with our agents during his interview.

A contractor providing information technology security services for Amtrak violated company policies by wrongfully uploading sensitive and proprietary Amtrak data to his personal Google cloud storage and a personally owned USB flash drive without company knowledge or approval. Our agents were able to identify and remove the company’s data from his cloud storage and flash drive. In addition, the company has remediated certain vulnerabilities and continues to take steps to address security weaknesses identified as part of our investigation.

We investigated an allegation that a National Park Service (NPS) employee assisted inmates from a prison work detail to smuggle contraband into a Federal penitentiary.We determined that during the prison work detail at a national park, inmates—whose criminal histories included firearms- and drug-related convictions—were found with contraband after they had been left working unsupervised in the park’s campground for approximately 2 hours.We found insufficient evidence to prove or disprove that the employee assisted the inmates who smuggled contraband into the penitentiary. The employee has since left the NPS.We also investigated whether the employee followed NPS and departmental procedures for the use of prison work details, and if the NPS had established policies and procedures for the supervision of inmates working at the national park. We presented those findings and recommendations on the lack of departmental policies and procedures in a separate management advisory (Management Advisory No. OI-GA-18-0898-I, The National Park Service Needs Policies or Procedures Covering Prison Work Details in National Parks). As a result of the management advisory we issued, all prison work details at national parks have stopped pending further consideration.We provided this report to the Deputy Director, Exercising the Authority of Director for the NPS, for any action deemed appropriate.

On May 4, 2020, the OIG was informed that First-Class Mail, including but not limited to political mail and mail-in ballots, was misdelivered and left near cluster boxes at numerous apartment buildings in Paterson, NJ, on May 1, 2020. The investigation revealed through video surveillance, interviews and USPS database searches that on May 1, 2020, mail was improperly delivered to numerous apartment buildings. On May 19, 2020, a Notice of Removal (NOR) was issued. pursuant to the OIG investigation with the charge of Incomplete Disposition of Mail. No further investigative findings anticipated. This case is closed.

This investigation addressed an allegation that a contract employee and his employer submitted mileage reimbursement expenses in the amount of $23,431.82 that were not allowed under their contract with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). These travel expenses were submitted for the employee’s travel to and from TVA’s Watts Bar Nuclear Site between February 2017 and April 2019. The evidence substantiated that these expenses were not reimbursable under the contract.The OIG recommends that (1) TVA re-educate the contractor on when mileage reimbursement is permitted under the contract, and (2) resolve the misinterpretation of the contract terminology pertaining to mileage reimbursement between the Nuclear Projects and Supply Chain groups.

During a recent OIG investigation, we found that the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) has an internal policy that permits authorized senior staff to obtain access to employee emails to ensure “efficient and proper operation of the workplace,” or to search for “suspected misconduct.” We found, however, that the NIGC has no systems, processes, or procedures in place to approve, track, or account for internal email queries of employees’ emails.While we found no U.S. Department of the Interior policy that prohibited such queries, we are concerned about the negative effect this practice could have on employees making protected disclosures. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) issued a memorandum to all executive departments and agencies in February 2018 urging that policies and practices for monitoring employee communications “do not interfere with or chill employees from lawfully disclosing wrongdoing.”To avoid a chilling effect on NIGC employees seeking to engage in protected whistleblowing activity and to ensure adequate oversight of its access to individual Government email accounts, we made one recommendation that the NIGC establish formal policies and procedures consistent with the OSC’s guidance that also provide a way for the NIGC to track and retain all requests and productions.We issued this management advisory to the NIGC Chairman.

This investigation addressed an allegation that a contract employee and his employer submitted mileage reimbursement expenses in the amount of $34,173.15 that were not allowed under their contract with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). These travel expenses were submitted for the employee’s travel to and from TVA’s Sequoyah Nuclear Site between August 2016 and June 2019. The evidence substantiates that these expenses were not reimbursable under the contract.The OIG recommends that (1) TVA re-educate the contractor on when mileage reimbursement is permitted under the contract, and (2) resolve the misinterpretation of the contract terminology pertaining to mileage reimbursement between TVA’s Nuclear Projects and Supply Chain groups.

An Assistant Passenger Conductor based in Washington, D.C., was terminated from employment on May 27, 2020, after our investigation revealed that he had gained employment at the company by using fraudulent forms of identification. During his employment with the company, the employee was arrested and convicted for several felonies and misdemeanors. On several occasions, he inappropriately used leave granted under the Family Medical Leave Act, including one occasion while he was under home confinement wearing an ankle GPS tracker. He is currently serving a 10-month prison sentence for violating federal probation.

We investigated allegations that an Office of Service Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) forester misused his position and violated ethics regulations.We found that the OSMRE forester violated ethics regulations when he promoted the use of a private company to State and Federal officials, which gave the appearance that the Government endorsed this company.

A Carman/Welder in Beech Grove, Indiana, was terminated from employment on May 19, 2020, following an administrative hearing for violating company policy. Our investigation found that the employee failed to disclose his criminal convictions occurring prior to his employment on his initial application and during his employment, and he also failed to disclose multiple drug and/or alcohol related arrests once employed. Additionally, the employee inappropriately used or remained on sick leave and leave granted under the Family Medical Leave Act while serving time in jail.

One Amtrak electrician in Beech Grove, Indiana, resigned from his position on May 4, 2020, and a second was terminated from employment on May 11, 2020, following his administrative hearing. Our investigation found that both employees entered a supply area without authorization and stole company materials. Both employees admitted to the unauthorized entry and to stealing gloves and batteries.

We investigated allegations that U.S. Fish and Wildlife (FWS) volunteers at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge allowed guests to utilize Government housing, against FWS policy. We also investigated the circumstances surrounding the termination of two other volunteers from the refuge.We determined that two volunteers permitted guests to reside in Government housing on the refuge for several days, in violation of FWS policy and without authorization from refuge officials. We also found that refuge officials had a sufficient basis to terminate the two other volunteers from the refuge.

A Communications and Signals employee violated Amtrak policy by repeatedly disabling the Dash Cam system—designed to monitor and record incidents of unsafe driving—in his company-assigned vehicle, including on December 1, 2019, when he was involved in an accident while operating this vehicle. During the OIG investigation, the employee denied that he tampered with, disconnected, or reconnected his vehicle’s Dash Cam system. The evidence, however, demonstrated that he manually disconnected the Dash Cam system at the times in question. The employee retired on May 6, 2020, prior to his administrative hearing.