Workers Filed Improper Time Slips Dot Employees Used Work Time, Not Leave, To Attend Funeral, Audit Finds

State Department of Transportation employees in Spokane violated the law by not taking leave to attend a funeral, an audit concludes.

Instead of taking personal leave, 19 employees’ time slips show they were working on various state highway projects, the state audit says.

The improperly billed work hours for Jan. 7, 1997, cost taxpayers $2,089, the report says.

The employees also improperly used state vehicles to drive to the funeral in Davenport, Wash., the audit concludes.

The employees attended the funeral of Marilyn Wilke, wife of DOT supervisor Charles Wilke. He retired shortly after his wife’s death.

Wilke said last week he had no idea at the time that employees had filed improper time slips.

Regional transportation boss Jerry Linzi issued a statement Tuesday saying he directed his staff to take corrective action to recoup the losses.

State employees who have a death in their immediate family may take bereavement leave, and report it as sick time. Employees who attend a funeral of a nonrelative must take annual leave.

“We have determined there is reasonable cause to believe there has been a violation of state law,” the report by Auditor Brian Sonntag says.

The audit came after a whistleblower complaint was filed.

The time slip violation “appears to have been done out of respect for the co-worker rather than an intentional misuse of state time,” says the audit, released Monday.

The supervisor who approved use of the state vehicles “appears to have been motivated by a sense of caring and thoughtfulness,” the audit says.

This “was not an intentional misuse of the vehicles,” it concludes.

The employees involved will be docked 4 hours of vacation pay and be required to pay for improper use of the the state vehicles, the audit says.

That angers some of the employees, who say they were directed to list project hours instead of vacation on their time slips.

Larry Eik, who took the supervisor’s job after Wilke’s retirement, was the deputy supervisor at the time of the funeral. Eik wasn’t available for comment Tuesday.

“The state auditor’s official report on the incident makes no note of this issue,” Lenzi said in his prepared statement. “However, we will begin the process of investigating to determine if there are any facts to support these allegations.”