Eddie Carroll Thomas

Whistleblower sues DMV

bniolet — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:15:00 -0400

An assistant supervisor for the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles' License and Theft Bureau who was fired after blowing the whistle has filed a lawsuit in federal court to get his job back and collect $800,000 or more in damages.

Ken Cassidy was fired in March 2008 after he was accused of violating an order not to talk to any DMV employees in the emissions program, Dan Kane reports.

Several months earlier, Cassidy had tipped The News & Observer to an improper hire within the program and to the fact that some emissions staff had so little work to do that they were finished with their tasks by lunch time.

Cassidy's information undid the improper hire, which also led to the resignation of the bureau's deputy director and the firing of another assistant supervisor. His information also caused DMV officials to give emissions staff additional duties.

Senior Administrative Law Judge Fred Morrison found the order that led to Cassidy's firing "excessive, punitive and unreasonable" and said he should be reinstated. But the State Personnel Commission rejected the opinion. Cassidy has appealed that decision to state Superior Court.

The federal lawsuit names the DMV, the state Department of Transportation and several former and current DMV and DOT officials as defendants, including former DMV Commissioner Bill Gore.

Gore issued the order after learning emissions staff alleged Cassidy had harassed co-workers. Two of those employees acknowledged in a hearing that they were upset that Cassidy had exposed the problems within the emissions program.

Gore and DMV officials said they had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment.

More after the jump.

Gore cleared of favoritism charges

bkrueger — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:56:52 -0500

The Office of State Personnel found that there is no basis to allegations that former Division of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Bill Gore used favoritism in hiring.

The claims were made by Gore's former second-in-command, Wayne Hurder. Hurder was fired in November after an internal DMV investigation found that he had allowed a Greene County patronage boss, Eddie Carroll Thomas, to have longstanding and widespread influence over personnel matters within the Driver and Vehicle Services section.

Hurder claimed in a suit filed shortly after his termination that Gore had violated personnel procedures in seeking to help two people get DMV positions, reports Dan Kane. One is the son of a former neighbor of Gore's who won a summer internship; the other was a temporary DMV employee who sought a fulltime job.

An investigation by the state personnel office found that Hurder came up with the idea of the summer internship and set it in motion, and did not raise objections about it at the time. Another person who had no connection to Gore was selected for a second internship.

As for the temporary employee, the investigation found that Gore expressed an interest in hiring him fulltime because he had fixed some equipment that others responsible for the repair had failed to fix. But the investigation found that Gore did not get involved in the hiring process as the temporary employee applied for two jobs, one of which he won.

Most Read: Bad news edition

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 12:21:17 -0500

The most-read posts this week were bad news.

The state's not doing well. The governor got a kick on the way out the door and a woman may have lied to a newspaper reporter. The posts:

1. Not-So Great Expectations: State tax collections are down 6.1 percent from projections, or about $520 million below what economists expected. So it's their fault...

2. Questioning Sentences: Gov. Mike Easley blamed structured sentencing for the problems with parole, but Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand said it's not to blame. So who is, Senator Rand?

3. Fielding Questions: Washington and Beaufort counties won their fight against the U.S. Navy. Now it's time for Camden and Currituck counties to fight. Just 96 counties to go...

4. (S)Tar Heels: Another Tar Heel is working in the Obama administration as a spokesman. But somehow he hasn't found a job for a certain former senator...

5. Crying Uncle: The niece of a patronage boss Eddie Carroll Thomas told a reporter she saw the job online, but later admitted that may not have been true. Maybe she saw it on EddiesList?

Niece gave different answers on job

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:23:56 -0500

In September, when The N&O interviewed the niece of Greene County patronage boss Eddie Carroll Thomas about how she had gotten a job as a state Division of Motor Vehicles examiner, she denied that her uncle had anything to do with it.

"I just saw it online and I applied," said Vanessa Gordon, who works in the Greenville office. She added that "I did contact (state) Sen. John Kerr, and he's the one who told me to apply for the job."

Two weeks later, she told DMV internal investigators looking into Thomas' influence in DMV jobs that she was told to drop Kerr's name. She told them Vickie Keel, another examiner who had also been helped by Thomas, wanted Gordon to say that, Dan Kane reports.

"Vickie Keel had instructed Ms. Gordon to tell the reporter that she got assistance through Senator John Kerr when she applied for her job," the DMV investigative report said. "Ms. Gordon assumed that her uncle [Mr. Thomas] told Ms. Keel to tell her to say that."

Gordon, 38, was hired in May 2006, and makes roughly $32,000 a year. She told investigators that she had given Thomas her job application. She did not know what effect that may have had in getting her the job.

More after the jump.

Investigation shows undue influence

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 08:12:49 -0500

An internal investigation revealed Eddie Carroll Thomas had undue influence over one of the largest sections of the Division of Motor Vehicles.

The Greene County patronage boss could get people jobs, transfer troublesome colleagues and reassign workers and held considerable influence.

Carroll abruptly retired five years ago after state records showed dozens of calls from his work hpone made to top officials in state government. State and federal investigations looked into two state contracts connected to his business partners.

"I personally was shocked and offended by what was contained in the investigative report," DMV Commissioner Bill Gore said. "And I was offended not only as an administrator but as a citizen."

Thomas' influence comes from his role as a fundraiser for Govs. Jim Hunt and Mike Easley. (N&O)