Investigation: Two Baltimore Transportation Workers Spent Most Of Their Workdays At Home

Baltimore City's internal watchdog found that two Department of Transportation workers took their city vehicles home with them and stayed there for hours when they were supposed to be working.

In a letter to city residents, Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming wrote that her office investigated complaints a traffic maintenance worker was taking his assigned truck home after working just part of his shift. In the course of the investigation, they found that a second traffic worker was doing the same thing, usually acting with the first.

Investigators said the two were often paired together during the workday, since one lost his city driving privileges for failure to attend a re-certification class. Investigators saw one employee drop the other off near his home, then head to his own home. He would then pick up the first employee before the end of the workday.

Investigators say one had been skipping work in this manner since January 2017. The other began soon after he was paired with that employee. The employees involved were not identified.

Both employees were fired and the matter has been referred to the Law Department to seek reimbursement of wages paid for time the employees didn't work.

In a letter back to Cumming, Mayor Bernard C. "Jack" Young wrote transportation officials are working to develop new procedures and policies to "provide better oversight of field employees in the future."