The Untouchables: Government Employee Can't Be Fired Despite Watching 6 Hours Of Porn A Day At Work

Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog [3],

At the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), red tape is preventing the removal of a top level employee accused of viewing porn two to six hours a day while at work, since 2010. Even though investigators found 7,000 pornographic files on his computer and even caught him watching porn, he remains on the payroll.

 

Five years ago, the General Services Administration (GSA) spent more than $800,000 on a lavish conference in Las Vegas. They were served 1,000 sushi rolls costing $7 each and a clown and mind reader were hired for entertainment. Two managers were initially fired but got their jobs back after the MSPB reversed the decision.

 

The GSA was ordered to “cancel the appellants removals” and give them back pay plus interest. Meanwhile, the organizer of the convention was never technically fired. He was allowed to retire.

 

From the CBS News article: Red Tape Keeps Some Bad Gov’t Workers From Being Fired [4]

It was just brought to my attention that prosecutors in the General David Petraeus case are suggesting two years probation [5] and a $40,000 fine, rather than the one-year prison sentence his misdemeanor charge carries. If it were you or I, and the government didn’t like our political activities, the feds would undoubtably try to put us in a cage for as long as possible. Must be nice to be an oligarch. After all, insiders don’t jail other insiders. This is not a free country.

It’s not just Petraeus and other oligarchs either. Status quo minions often also receive special treatment for their tireless service to the plutocracy. You know, such as watching six hours per day of porn on the job.

We learn from CBS News that:

In the private sector, if you’re caught viewing porn on company time or intimidating a co-worker, you’d probably be fired immediately; not so if you’re a federal employee.

 

A CBS News investigation looks at how hard it is for the U.S. government to discipline or fire employees who behave badly. With examples ranging from extravagant to explicit, civil service rules meant to protect public workers from political pressure may be backfiring, and costing you big, reports CBS News correspondent Don Dahler.

 

At the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), red tape is preventing the removal of a top level employee accused of viewing porn two to six hours a day while at work, since 2010. Even though investigators found 7,000 pornographic files on his computer and even caught him watching porn, he remains on the payroll.

 

At a Congressional hearing, EPA administrator Gina McCarthy was asked why she hadn’t fired the employee and said, “I actually have to work through the administrative process, as you know.”

 

He said those rules make it nearly impossible to fire poor performers or problematic employees, even when they’ve committed egregious violations. 

A CBS News analysis of cases under review by the Merit System Protection Board (MSPB), an appeals board for federal workers, found other instances of employees who had committed seemingly fireable offenses who were later reinstated to their jobs, often with back pay and interest.

 

Five years ago, the General Services Administration (GSA) spent more than $800,000 on a lavish conference in Las Vegas [6]. They were served 1,000 sushi rolls costing $7 each and a clown and mind reader were hired for entertainment. Two managers were initially fired but got their jobs back after the MSPB reversed the decision.

 

The GSA was ordered to “cancel the appellants removals” and give them back pay plus interest. Meanwhile, the organizer of the convention was never technically fired. He was allowed to retire.

 

Taking into consider administrative leave and the general costs of the procedure itself, Stier said, “There is no question that taxpayers are losing hundreds of millions of dollars, in a conservative estimate. They are losing more than that because they are losing the ability to get the very best out of government.”