Report: Baltimore employees fired for taking improper trips

BALTIMORE — Two Baltimore city employees were fired after an investigation revealed they falsified obituaries to receive bereavement leave and were pictured vacationing on days they were supposed to be working or on sick leave, according to a report from the city’s inspector general.

The report released Wednesday alleges that the two public works employees — an office support specialist and her husband, a utilities installation repair technician — took a family cruise and a trip to Ocean City, among other destinations, while submitting incorrect timesheets or misusing paid leaves.

One of the employees allegedly posted photos to Facebook showing herself in Las Vegas and at stores and restaurants in North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia in 2018 and 2019, according to the report. She logged full days of work during some of these trips and on a few occasions was accompanied by her husband, who had submitted sick leave requests, the inspector general alleged.

The investigation began after officials found the two had submitted fabricated requests for bereavement leave, and a funeral home listed on the paperwork determined the obituaries included had been falsified, according to the report.

The department was working to recover the funds for the incorrectly reported time off, The Baltimore Sun quoted acting Public Works Director Matthew Garbark as saying.

A spokeswoman for the department declined to identify the former employees or say how much they owed.

The Associated Press