Audit finds Department of Ecology employee gave dozens of massages on state dime
Jul 8, 2013, 12:53 PM | Updated: 1:41 pm
An investigation has revealed an employee with the Washington Department of Ecology gave dozens of massages to fellow employees in her office while on the taxpayer’s dime.
The Washington State Auditor’s Office reports a whistleblower tipped officials to the employee. She works as a spill responder, but was also going to school to become a massage therapist.
Investigators found the woman used over 85 hours of state time to give massages to her co-workers on state property, lasting from 30 to 90 minutes each. She also exchanged 271 emails on her official state account related to massages. Both are considered violations of agency policy and state ethics rules.
The woman was also found to have violated rules by excessively surfing the Internet on state time.
The woman left the Department of Ecology before the investigation and report was completed, according to the report from the auditor’s office. In a response to the findings, Ecology Department officials said officials would speak with the former employee’s supervisors and issue an agency-wide reminder about the rules, the report said.
