Investigative Reports

Our investigation determined that an Amtrak Supervisor based in New York violated company policies by regularly leaving work after clocking in to meet his girlfriend at two hotels in New York City. The supervisor was unreachable when project managers and other supervisors tried to contact him during emergency situations. After his administrative hearing, the employee was terminated on May 6, 2025. He is not eligible for rehire.

We found that a Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) employee sexually harassed student-athletes on the Haskell Indian Nations University Women’s Basketball Team. 

Investigative Summary 24-0001

The Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General conducted an administrative investigation into alleged ethics violations by Tracy Skala, former deputy director of the Orlando VA Medical Center. Ms. Skala’s son, who had a different last name, was a former VA employee who subsequently worked for a software development company with a mobile wayfinding application that could help veterans navigate VA facilities on their smartphones. Ms. Skala did not disclose their relationship when her son attended an April 6, 2023, meeting of the Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 8 Executive Leadership Board. VISN 8 serves more than 1.4 million veterans. During the presentation and at many other times, Ms. Skala encouraged VISN leaders and a subordinate in her medical facility to approve the application for use, knowing her son could receive bonus pay as a percentage of a new VA contract. A VISN 8 executive who learned of their relationship promptly alerted the OIG.

The investigation found that Ms. Skala violated ethics rules by using her position to promote procurement of software from her son’s employer. Her participation in matters involving her son’s employer was an apparent conflict of interest. The OIG also noted that Ms. Skala, who retired from VA in April 2024, informed VA that she received a critical skills incentive, but VA had not initiated the process to recover any debt owed from her retiring before the requisite term of service. 

Due to Ms. Skala’s retirement, the OIG did not make recommendations regarding her conduct. VA concurred, or concurred in principle, with the OIG’s three recommendations relating to identifying potential conflicts before vendor presentations and improving critical skill incentive recoupment processes. VA provided acceptable action plans to implement the OIG recommendations and VA’s progress will be monitored until sufficient documentation has been received to close them as implemented.

Investigative Summary 22-0028

Our investigation determined that, between 2022 and 2023, an Amtrak Supervisor based in Philadelphia and several other employees violated company policy by not swiping out on a Time Entry Device (TED) after their shifts and, subsequently, swiping out and immediately back in when they returned to work. This resulted in the recording of significant consecutive TED hours. The employees used this swiping protocol to inaccurately claim a full eight hours of regular pay in Maximo, Amtrak’s timekeeping system, instead of correctly recording seven hours of regular pay and one hour of Code 29 pay (hours paid but not worked) to which they were actually entitled.

We also found that the supervisor collected additional Code 29 hours to which he was not entitled, in violation of the Infrastructure Management and Construction Services’ (IMCS) internal hours‐of‐service policy, which limits the number of hours an IMCS employee can work to 16 hours in a 24‐hour period. We further found that a Division Engineer, based in Philadelphia, violated the internal hours‐of‐service policy by allowing and encouraging these employees to claim Code 29 pay after working only 14 hours, which resulted in the company paying for hundreds of unnecessary Code 29 hours. The supervisor was terminated and is no longer eligible for rehire, and the Engineer was reprimanded.

Our investigation determined that an Amtrak Engineer based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, violated company policies by misusing his company-issued computer to conduct personal business on company time and failing to report three outside businesses on his annual Certificates of Compliance. He was terminated on April 16, 2025, and he is not eligible for rehire.

Our investigation determined that an Amtrak manager based in Philadelphia likely forged an employee’s signature on his final disciplinary waiver and a second disciplinary waiver for another employee in December 2022. On March 31, 2025, the manager was placed on administrative leave pending termination. He retired on April 8, 2025, and is no longer eligible for rehire.

Our investigation determined that an Amtrak Trackman based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, violated company policies by failing to disclose three criminal convictions for theft—including two graded as felonies—in his employment application. The employee was terminated on April 2, 2025, and is no longer eligible for rehire.

We received a hotline complaint in April 2024 from an individual asking the Office of Inspector General (OIG) to investigate why their conditional offer of employment with the U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) was withdrawn. Based on what we learned during our initial investigation, we broadened our investigation to include a review of the CPSC’s compliance with
laws and regulations regarding all prescreen waivers accomplished during the time period defined below. 

This investigation covers events that occurred between July 2021 and June 2024. These events included the withdrawal of Complainant’s conditional offer of employment in October 2023.