WRAL reports http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/6102981/
Raleigh, N.C. — The commissioner of North Carolina's Division of Motor Vehicles says there's no evidence linking a phone company contract to gifts and meals provided by its workers to state employees.
Commissioner Mike Robertson said Tuesday that Verizon says 62 state workers or their family members received restaurant meals, hockey tickets and other benefits from company employees. Such acts would be in violation of the state ethics policy.
The State Bureau of Investigation has been asked to look at what happened. Robertson says the SBI is also investigating computers used to implement the state's electronic sticker program. The DMV paid for the computers, but currently some are unaccounted for.
“The SBI has been asked to look into this, and to whether or not any DMV employee had knowledge of this inventory or those stored computers," Robertson said. “It is important to note that at the end of the day, Verizon bears the responsibility for the computers not accounted for, (and) not DMV.”
Robertson says no current employees have yet been disciplined and it appears there's no evidence that the gifts had a role in expanding a Verizon state contract.
Verizon spokesman Jack Hoey said five employees will be disciplined regarding the meals and gifts, and that the company is cooperating with the DMV to find the missing computers.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/6130969/
Verizon fires workers over state DMV probe
Posted: Oct. 3, 2009
Raleigh, N.C. — Verizon has fired four employees and a fifth has been disciplined for violating the company's code of business conduct, a spokesman said Saturday.
"We are not providing any further details, other than the discipline was appropriate based on our investigation," Jack Hoey, vice president of media relations for Verizon Business, said in a statement.
Verizon has a multimillion-dollar computing contract with the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles, which earlier this week, said 62 state workers or their family members received Carolina Hurricanes hockey tickets, restaurant meals, spa services and other benefits from company employees from August 2006 to January 2009.
"Based on our internal investigation, Verizon Business has taken appropriate disciplinary action," Hoey said. "Four employees have been terminated, and one is no longer on the state account."
The State Bureau of Investigation is also looking into whether state employees broke the law by accepting the gifts. State ethics rules prohibit employees from receiving gifts from vendors.
The SBI is also investigating what happened to computers used to implement the state's electronic sticker program.
The DMV paid for the computers, but currently some are unaccounted for. Earlier this week, Hoey said the computers are in warehouses and that Verizon is cooperating with the DMV to account for them.
Post a Comment