• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • News
  • Topics
    • Common Sense
    • Congress
    • Debt
    • Government waste
    • Millenials
    • QuizCap
    • Taxes
  • Tools
    • Agencies
    • Memes That Matter
    • Research Library
    • Scavenger Hunt
  • Shop
  • What We’re About
  • Multimedia
  • What We’re About
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter signup
  • Give to the Cause

Engineer Gets Agency to Pay for Law Degree, Then Quits

By Adam Kazda | August 2, 2017

Last July, the Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry made headlines when he was unknowingly duped into participating in a 30 minute interview with a Russian comedy radio show. But from 2009 to 2013, the agency was duped by a federal employee, who got the department to pick up the $138,000 tab for his law degree that had nothing to do with his job – only to leave the agency immediately after.

Popular Posts
  1. Social Security: Good Intentions, Unintended Consequences
  2. The Pentagon Cooks the Books Kevin Malone Style
  3. What Sam Adams Can Teach Us About the Corporate Tax Revamp

This revelation came to light in a recently released inspector general (OIG) report that found the Department of Energy’s Fossil Energy “paid for 29 college courses, totaling approximately $138,000, for a general engineer to obtain a law degree.” The employee then left for the private sector shortly after receiving his law degree.

The OIG found that “a majority of the courses taken by the employee were unrelated to his position at the Department…For example, while working as an engineer for Fossil Energy, the employee completed courses including Pre-Trial Civil Litigation, Evidence, Criminal Law, and Torts.”

learn about our mission Artboard 1
× Follow us on Facebook and never miss a story.

The report affirms the Fossil Energy office had a sufficient review process, but “were overridden by senior management officials in the approval chain at the time, including the Chief Operating Officer and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary.” Fossil Energy employees questioned the applicability of a law degree for a general engineer, but senior management verbally directed their employees to approve it anyway. Unfortunately, the senior management officials who approved the law-degree are no longer with the agency, so they could not be interviewed.

The Weekly Chaser

Get the latest content, first.

The OIG notes that a Continued Service Agreement (CSA), that would have required the employee to stay, should have been applied to the degree-earning employee, but for reasons unknown, was not. The employee in question’s law classes totaled over 1,000 hours – the department requires a CSA if an employee exceeds the 180 hour training mark.

In summary, the degree was unrelated to the employee’s service and should have never been approved. But also the amount of “training” hours should have triggered a Continued Service Agreement that required the employee to stay. Instead, with the help of senior management, the employee bilked taxpayers for a law degree and got nothing in return.

× Follow us on Twitter.

This is a prime example of what happens when you spend money that is not yours and why Inspectors General and other oversight entities are so critical in holding our government accountable. It is also an example of why transparency throughout the government is important to catch these types of situations as they happen, rather than when it is too late to hold anyone accountable. That is why transparency is the driving motivation for Restore Accountability.

sidebar

sidebar-alt

If you liked this, you’ll love these

Paul Ryan’s Test

Read all about it Artboard 1

The Feds Fumble Again

Read all about it Artboard 1

Republicans and Democrats, Take a Look in the Mirror

Read all about it Artboard 1

Support Our Work

Federal agencies go largely unchecked, spending at will making use of inflated budgets. While some do very important work, we need to hold them accountable. You can do this by donating, emailing your legislator, or signing our petitions.

Donate Now

Sign Up for Pursuit Updates

Privacy Policy

Powered by the Foundation to Restore Accountability

Search
UNCOVER SOME GOVERNMENT WASTE?
share your opinion

Can you believe the US Government spends more money on it’s cable bill than on disaster relief?

NO! I’M FURIOUS! Eh, sounds right