FAMU Fires 41 Employees After Audit
Another 21 employees being investigated in light of payroll discrepencies
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.
Florida A&M University has terminated 41 employees as a result of new findings of payroll discrepancies, in a continuing investigation stemming from a universitywide audit conducted in April.
Another 21 employees are being investigated by the university’s Office of Inspector General, and three cases are being referred to the State Attorney’s office, university trustees learned at a June meeting.
Most of the fired employees worked in the university’s Institute for Urban Policy and Commerce, which interim president Dr. Castell V. Bryant abolished this year. It was administered by Dr. Patricia McGill and reopened under a new director earlier this summer.
Trustees were recently informed of the dismissals as Bryant strove to end the fiscal year in the black, and to address the allegations that employees received pay for hours they had not worked and for jobs they had not held.
The fiscal year ended June 30.
The names of the dismissed employees were not disclosed in a report to the trustees from the Audit Committee. The report, made by trustee Pamela Duncan, described five categories of employees who were terminated:
– Employees with multiple jobs who were not reporting their time accurately. Some were leaving their primary job early to report to a secondary one. Others were not showing up to work in positions for which they were receiving a check. Some were being paid for time not worked.
