From Deseret News archives:
Investigation dropped in timecard accusation
Since Funderburk was the primary person accused of timecard fraud, to a large extent the action quashes one of several scandals that have popped up in the county in recent weeks.
An anonymous whistle-blower had tracked Funderburk's comings and goings in the office for several months, noting discrepancies between arrival/departure times Funderburk entered in an office log and the times recorded by her computer as she logged in and logged out.
The accumulated records revealed many such discrepancies. But while some showed differences of an hour or more, many more showed differences of only a few minutes.
Chief financial officer Linda Hamilton examined the records, compared them with those of 10 other people in the personnel office, and decided the matter didn't merit more investigation.
"Her conclusion was that there were no grounds for pursuing it further," chief administrative officer Doug Willmore said.
Willmore said discrepancies of a few minutes are common, and that larger differences may occur from such things as a person arriving at the office but carrying out some task or activity before logging in to their computer.
Neither Hamilton nor Funderburk could be contacted for comment.
Part of the reason for suspending the investigation was the difficulty in corroborating reasons for discrepancies.
"If I asked you where you were at 10 a.m. on April 10, 2002, obviously it would be hard for you," Willmore said.
Utah Alliance of Government Employees representative Kevin Schofield, who assisted the whistle-blower in bringing forward the allegations, said he believed the whistle-blower had at least a good case against Funderburk, though he declined to comment definitively on whether Hamilton's action was the appropriate one.
"I really don't know enough about it," he said. "I honestly don't know. I can't really respond to it."
Schofield did say, however, that the whistle-blower is disappointed.
"She said, 'I can't imagine why they think there isn't anything to it,' " he reported.
The whistle-blower originally brought the charges to then-chief administrative officer David Marshall last fall, but nothing came of the matter. She renewed them earlier this month.
One of the whistle-blower's allegations was that Funderburk was treated differently from other employees, and Willmore said that accusation, if investigated and proved, might still result in some action.
"When you talk to (the whistle-blower), she's very reasonable," he said. "She thought there was a double standard."
County ordinance prohibits bringing frivolous or malicious allegations, but Willmore said that doesn't appear to apply here.
"I can't see us pursuing that," he said. "It looked like (the whistle-blower) brought it in good faith."
Funderburk still isn't off the hook completely. Investigations into possible abuses of the county's tuition program, which she oversaw, are ongoing.
E-mail: aedwards@desnews.com
