ATLANTA — A local official says there has been an explosion of ethics complaints to the city's hotline.
The increase in complaints comes from just about every department in the city.
Through an open records request, Channel 2’s Dave Huddleston got more than 200 complaints. He wanted to see if any city workers had given officials information about the City Hall bribery investigation.
Huddleston didn’t find what he was looking for, but what he did find was shocking.
“I definitely see our program just really exploding,” Atlanta ethics officer Jabu Sengova said.
The complaints that came into the integrity hotline from fellow city workers range from sex in a city building to employees coming to work while high on drugs.
Huddleston poured through 243 complaints from 2014 to the present.
The municipal court received the most complaints, including several reports of a court employee having sex with her boyfriend in the courtroom after-hours.
“That is an open investigation. We're not at liberty to discuss that, but we have reported it to the appropriate department for a thorough investigation,” Sengova said.
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Atlanta Watershed also had a number of complaints. One said an employee, who had three traffic accidents in one year, needed to be tested for drugs.
Sengova said in a case like that, they take immediate steps to keep workers and the public safe.
“Anything criminal, any criminal aspect to it, we refer it to the law department,” she said.
Sengova says an investigation can take anywhere from three to six months. She says employees don't have to give their name, because what they really want is information on bad behavior.
“It's a safe haven for employees, because we want to make sure employees have a place where employees can call and make complaints,” she said.
The integrity hotline number is 800-884-0911.
Sengova said they investigate all cases and some are proven not to be true, but they take all of them seriously.
Cox Media Group
