OIG investigated allegations that a BLM manager improperly used direct hire authority (Schedule A) to convert a contractor into a full time Federal employee. The complainant alleged that the supervisor asked a contractor to review Schedule A, identify a disability that could be faked, and get paperwork from a doctor identifying that the contractor had that disability. During our investigation, we also learned that the manager had received a notice of termination from her previous federal employer and may have provided false information when BLM hired her.
We found that the manager provided details about Schedule A to contracted employees, and eventually converted a contractor to a Federal employee using Schedule A. Our investigation found no evidence that the manager had violated any Federal hiring regulations or that she had asked any contracted employee to fake a disability.
Our investigation did find evidence that the manager had falsified her Declaration for Federal Employment, Optional Form 306, when she applied to BLM. The manager failed to disclose that she had retired in lieu of termination after receiving a notice of termination from her previous federal employer. The manager held a level III contract warrant, which was terminated concurrently with her notice of termination. The manager failed to inform her BLM supervisor that her warrant had been terminated, and used the fact that she had held a level III warrant to obtain a similar warrant at BLM. Our office informed BLM of this finding prior to issuing this report, and BLM has since terminated the manager.
The investigation was provided to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado, which declined prosecution.