State Employee Given Questions Ahead Of Promotion Interview Must Undergo Ethics Training
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - A California state employee applying for a new position got a copy of the interview questions emailed to her personal account ahead of the interview, then landed the job, and later lied about the email during a State Audit investigation.
The information came out in the State Auditor Whistleblower report. It reviewed more than 800 cases, including 84 cases involving allegations of improper hiring or other violations of civil service rules from July 1, 2018-December 31, 2018.
Of those 84 cases, the agency conducted preliminary investigative work on 24 of them. Of those, investigators obtained sufficient evidence in six cases, allowing them to launch thorough investigations.
The employee who was emailed the interview questions had applied for an open analyst position within the Department of Business Oversight and was ultimately hired in August 2018. The person who emailed her the questions is a manager in that department and emailed from his own person account. He also sat on the interview panel and scored the applicant higher than the other applicants. When questioned about sending the email, the manager initially stated he didn't recall providing the questions but later admitted to it.
Seven of the 10 questions provided by the manager to the applicant were ultimately asked during the interview.
According to the audit,
"Government Code section 19680 states that it is unlawful to willfully furnish to any person any special or secret information for the purpose of either improving or injuring the prospects or chances of any person examined, certified, or to be examined or certified under this part or rule."
The Department of Business Oversight investigated and demoted the manager. The analyst's promotion was voided as if December 2018. Since it was determined her position wasn't accepted in good faith she will owe the state $1,080, which is the difference in compensation she received during those five months from her previous position. She is also required to go through ethics training.