HomeMy WebLinkAboutAudit - Other Publications - Public - FY2018 Ethics Hotline Report - 9/17/2018
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City Auditor’s Office 1 FY18 Ethics Hotline Report
Date: September 17, 2018
To: Kevin R. Phelps, City Manager
From: Candace MacLeod, City Auditor
Subject: FY2018 Ethics Hotline Report
The City Auditor’s Office (CAO) administers the City’s Ethics Hotline program. The
primary objective of the Ethics Hotline is to provide a means for employees to report
any activity or conduct related to personnel, resources, or operations for which they
suspect instances of ethical violations, fraud, waste, or abuse.
During FY2018, the CAO received the following ethics complaints, as summarized in
Table 1.
Table 1 – Summary of FY2018 Ethics Hotline Complaints
Date Call
Received
Allegation Investigate
d
By
Outcome(s) Date of
Outcome
12/1/17 Alleged
personal use
of City
resources: A
City
employee
charges
their
personal
electric
vehicle at a
City facility.
City
Manager’s
Office and
Field
Operations
The City Manager’s Office worked with the Field
Operations Department and estimated the cost of
charging a personal vehicle, or any electronic
device such as personal cell phones or tablets, is de
minimis and considered it impractical to charge
individuals based on associated accounting and
payment processing costs. The City Manager’s
Office reported that a citywide policy for charging
personal electronic devices will be considered while
Field Operations is currently evaluating fleet
operations. This evaluation will be completed by
December 31, 2018.
1/16/18
6/12/18 Alleged
sexual
harassment:
An
employee
was
allegedly
sexually
harassed by
a co-worker
in 2016.
Another
complaint
was also
filed against
this
employee
by a
different
Human
Resources
In 2016, HR conducted an inquiry and interviewed
the complainant, three other employees, and
obtained written statements from two supervisors.
However, HR was unable to substantiate the
allegation, or the need to further investigate the
matter. Additionally, HR reported there were no
other complaints filed against this employee. To
clarify the need to maintain clear boundaries
among employees in their personal and business
interactions, HR issued a Standards of Performance
memorandum regarding workplace conduct to
department staff in January 2017.
Additionally, based on the review of
documentation associated with this complaint, the
CAO recommends that HR review and update HR
Policy 503 (last updated on October 1, 2009) to
ensure it addresses the following:
7/13/18
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City Auditor’s Office 2 FY18 Ethics Hotline Report
employee.
Nothing was
done about
the issue
and the
alleged
harasser still
works at the
City.
• Signed Complaints: HR 503 states a signed
complaint should be filed immediately and
should be as specific as possible. However, the
complainant was not required to complete a
signed complaint form to formally document
the allegations. HR stated they will accept a
complaint and conduct an inquiry regardless of
whether a signed form is received.
• Investigator’s Report: HR 503 states the
department head shall submit a report of the
findings of the investigation to the HR director
who will offer advice on appropriate action.
However, an investigator’s report explaining
whether the allegations were substantiated or
not and why was not prepared. HR stated that
an investigator’s report was not necessary. An
inquiry was made to determine whether an
investigation, and subsequently an investigative
report was required. In this case, HR stated a full
investigation with an investigator’s report was
unnecessary since based on the inquiry, the
complaint could not be substantiated.
• Inquiry Process: An inquiry was conducted by
HR for this complaint. However, HR 503 does not
reference and explain the inquiry process. HR
maintains that inquiries are regularly conducted
when a complaint is made, to assess whether a
potential violation has occurred. If, following an
inquiry, it appears a violation may have
occurred, then a full investigation will take
place.
• Controls over scheduling after an
inquiry/investigation concludes: Shortly after the
inquiry concluded, it was reported that the
complainant and alleged harasser were
scheduled to work an evening shift alone.
However, HR 503, or other HR procedures, do
not discuss controls to monitor work schedules
between complainants and alleged harassers.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
cc: Michael D. Bailey, City Attorney
Jim Brown, Director, Human Resources & Risk Management
Tom Duensing, Assistant City Manager
Jack Friedline, Assistant City Manager