Auditors Found a Calif. DMV Employee Literally Slept For 2,200 Hours While On the Clock

Caleb Tolin | July 25, 2018
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In an audit of various California state employees, investigators found several cases of blatant misconduct. But the worst offender has to be the DMV employee who slept at her desk for 2,200 total hours while on the clock.

In the report, which analyzed reports between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018, the employee was described as a “key data operator” who, during a period of about four years, accumulated about 2,200 hours of snooze time while at work between February 2014 and December 2017, costing the state more than $40,000.

But the ridiculousness certainly doesn’t stop there.

At both California State University at Fresno and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, there were accounts of several employees taking long breaks and leaving early consistently for several years.

Auditors also found a vocational nurse who was relieved from duty but was still paid by Correctional Health Care Services. In another case, a staff service analyst in the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation was overpaid thousands of dollars -- which auditors say the warden was made aware of, but did nothing.

The Assistant Chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection misused resources and constructed what amounts to a tiny house in the backyard of the state-funded residence he rented.

At CSU at Dominguez Hill, the university bought a Nissan-manufactured electric car charger and never checked to make sure it was compatible with their plan. It's sat unused for about five years, is out of warranty, is unfixable since Nissan isn't manufacturing the replacement parts anymore, and the university doesn't think they can get rid of it before 2021, if at all.

The worst part of all of this? None of it is recent. Most of these conduct violations spanned several years and had all been previously reported by the time they were caught.

California clearly has their work cut out for them.


(Cover Photo: Dave Winer)

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