New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings Administrative Law Judge [ALJ] Jonathan Fogel recommended termination of employment for an administrative director [Respondent] who knowingly approved a subordinate’s fraudulent timesheets, made false timesheet entries on his behalf, and failed to verify the accuracy of his timesheets.
The ALJ found that on numerous occasions from 2017 to 2022, Respondent submitted and approved a subordinate’s timesheets even though she knew that the subordinate was not at work.
The ALJ did not credit Respondent’s explanation that her CityTime account may have been “compromised,” and rejected Respondent’s argument that she had approved the timesheets in good faith, finding that Respondent failed to address why she took affirmative steps to record and approve specific work hours for her subordinate, including overtime, when he was not working and was instead traveling out of state.
Although Respondent has been employed by the agency since 2008, received favorable performance reviews in recent years, and has no disciplinary history, the ALJ concluded that termination is an appropriate penalty because Respondent's repeated and deliberate dishonesty over several years demonstrated a lack of integrity.
Click HERE to access Judge Fogel's findings and recommendation posted on the Internet.