Past Ethics Cases
- Details
- Parent Category: Enforcement
Name (Case No.) ▾ |
Violation |
Allegations |
Outcome |
Sanction |
---|---|---|---|---|
Disclosure of Interests |
Councilmember failed to disclose benefits paid to her brother’s company. |
Settlement Agreement |
$250 fine |
|
Tickets; Gratuities; Use of city property |
Employee accepted tickets to sporting events from city vendors doing business directly with his office, including during the active solicitation for a contract overseen by the employee's city office. The employee used his city email address to request tickets from vendors doing business with his office and to solicit his co-workers to attend a paid event hosted by his fraternity. |
Violations found |
$6,000 fine |
|
Gratuity; Solicitation |
Employee solicited funds from prohibited sources for daughter to participate in school program. |
Settlement Agreement |
$150 fine |
|
Use of city property |
Employee used his city-issued credit card for a large number of purchases, including but not limited to, premium travel, hotel, retail and other unallowable expenses, and failed to provide city business justifications for the expenses. |
Violations found |
$18700 fine; $84322.60 restitution; Public Reprimand |
|
Use of city property; Gratuity; Passes, tickets, and gratuities; |
Councilmember received a travel advance to attend a conference and failed to pay back the city when he did not attend; requested and received complimentary admission to ticketed events on behalf of someone other than himself; used city funds to travel to attend his family reunion and to attend an executive program class reunion; used city funds to pay for personal tutorial services and to sponsor an event for a private organization while using city property at no charge to the organization; and used city funds and labor for the production of DVDs and pins for his high school reunion. |
Settlement Agreement |
$3900 fine; $11,320.81 restitution |
|
Use of city property |
Employee in charge of rental management program waived rental fee for her daughter's wedding at City Hall. |
Settlement agreement |
$250 fine |
|
Incompatible Interests |
A fire inspector provided private services to establishments where he conducted city inspections. |
Violation found |
$500 fine; Public reprimand |
|
Gratuity; Solicitation; Use of city property |
Employee solicited and obtained free meals and food services from a local restaurant; accepted a cash gratuity from a developer during a city inspection; and misused her assigned city vehicle and city time. |
Violations found |
$5,000 fine; Public reprimand |
|
Use of city property; Disclosure of income and financial interests |
Employee misused his city-issued cell phone and failed to disclose his outside business on his City Financial Disclosure Statements. |
Settlement agreement |
$250 fine |
|
Gratuity |
Employee accepted free lunch from contractor. |
Settlement agreement |
Ethics training |
|
Gratuity; Solicitation |
Employee solicited and received three cash loans from a permit expediter. |
Settlement agreement |
$150 fine |
|
Gratuity |
Employee accepted two complimentary Atlanta Falcons tickets. |
Violation Found |
Public reprimand |
|
Use of city property; Disclosure of Income and Financial Interests; Confidential Information; Incompatible Interests |
Employee used city services to gain a private advantage; failed to disclose his private business on his city financial disclosure statements; used confidential information for his financial gain; and rendered private services on behalf of his company which were incompatible with his official duties as an arborist. |
Violations found |
$4,000 fine; Public reprimand |
|
Gratuity |
Employee accepted two dinners from law firm suing the City. |
Violation found |
$175 fine |
|
Gratuity |
Employee accepted meals, golf, and all-expenses paid trip to Las Vegas from vendor that provided servers to the City. |
Probable cause found |
Personnel action |
|
Use of city property, Decision Making, Disclosure of Interests |
Employee used city property and her city position to facilitate the hiring of her son by a city vendor and failed to disclose her son's employment with the vendor while overseeing and managing the vendor's city contract. |
Violation found |
$2,000 fine |
|
Use of city property |
Councilmember used city funds to pay for email services to send political emails unrelated to city business. |
Settlement agreement |
$750 fine; $11,200 restitution |
|
Use of city property, Incompatible Interests |
Employee used a city copier to copy fraudulent GED certificates and referred, delivered, and collected payment for fraudulent documents on behalf of a former employee's private business and for the private advantage of others. |
Settlement agreement |
$200 fine; 50 hours of community service |
|
Post-employment |
Employee represented property owners on subdivision applications that he reviewed while working for the City. |
Violation found |
$2,000 fine |
|
Incompatible Interests; Gratuity |
NPU Vice-Chair accepted travel paid for by a charter school seeking support from his NPU for its Atlanta Public School Application. |
Settlement Agreement |
Ethics training |
|
Gratuity |
Employee accepted meals, golf, and all-expenses paid trip to Las Vegas from vendor that provided servers to the City. |
Probable cause found |
Personnel action |
|
Use of city property |
Employee used city labor and truck rented with city funds to move personal property during normal business hours. |
Settlement agreement |
$750 fine; $51.55 restitution |
|
Gratuity |
City contractor's employees gave meals, tickets, and all-expenses paid trip to Las Vegas to three city employees. |
Settlement agreement |
$8,383 disgorgement |
|
Use of city property |
Employee used city property, equipment, and time to create and print fraudulent GED certificates, pay stubs and high school diplomas for the private advantage of herself and others. |
Settlement agreement |
$1,500 fine |
|
Use of city property |
Councilmember used city labor and equipment to pave his driveway apron on terms not available to the general public. |
Consent order |
$812.26 fine |
|
Use of city property; Disclosure of income and financial interests; Incompatible interests |
Employee worked at least two additional full-time paid jobs while being employed full-time by a city department and repeatedly failed to disclose their outside employment/business interests on their City Financial Disclosure Statements. |
Violation found; Payment agreement |
$7,000 fine |
|
Use of city property |
Councilmember requested waiver of rental fees for private events. |
Settlement agreement |
$250 fine |
|
Use of city property |
Employee used city credit card for personal purchases. |
Settlement agreement |
Public reprimand |
|
Gratuity; Solicitation |
Employee solicited and obtained free meals from a local restaurant. |
Settlement agreement |
$300 fine |
|
Contract participation; Financial disclosure |
Councilmember hired his brother's company to provide services for his council office and failed to disclose the contract on his financial disclosure statements. |
Settlement agreement |
$5,000 fine; $10,000 restitution |
|
Use of city property |
Employee used city credit card for personal purchases. |
Settlement agreement |
$650 fine |
|
Use of city property |
Employee had authorization to drive a city vehicle but did not have authorization for overnight use of the vehicle. |
Settlement agreement |
$200 fine |
|
Use of city property |
Employee submitted for and received reimbursement from the City for his personal travel and for the personal travel of a non-city employee, failed to reconcile a travel advance, and submitted for and received reimbursement for several unallowable travel expenses. |
Settlement Agreement |
$500 fine; |
|
Confidential Information |
Employee misused confidential information when he referred a private plumber to a customer while responding to a service request as part of his official duties. |
Settlement agreement |
$150 fine |
|
Tickets and Gratuities |
Employee accepted tickets from a city vendor whose contract was overseen by the employee's city office. |
Violation found |
$500 fine |
|
Use of city property |
Employee waived rental fee for private events |
Settlement agreement |
Personnel action |
|
Use of city property |
Employee performed work on behalf of Lyft for her private advantage during her paid city work hours and openly discussed city business in the presence of her passenger during a trip. |
Violation found |
$500 fine; Public Reprimand |
|
Gratuity; Use of city property |
Councilmember accepted donations on behalf of foundation from prohibited sources and used city property to operate his foundation. |
Settlement agreement |
$3,500 fine |
|
Use of city property; Gratuity; Incompatible Interests |
Employee accepted a gratuity from a private business and used city equipment to remove and dispose of tree debris from a private lot on behalf the business at a financial loss to the city. |
Violation found |
$270 fine; $362.50 restitution |
|
Use of city property |
Councilmember used city funds to pay for campaign literature and workers. |
Settlement agreement |
$1,500 fine; $5,420 restitution |
|
Use of city property |
Councilmember used city funds to provide for the transportation of seniors in her district to a campaign kick-off event held at her campaign headquarters. |
Violation found |
$2,000 fine |
|
Use of city property |
Councilmember sought reimbursement for a non-city sanctioned event where she engaged in prohibited distribution of campaign materials; sought and received reimbursements for a non-city sanctioned event where she provided tickets to constituents for campaign purposes; sought and received reimbursement for gas with no accounting for which occasions she was transported for city business, campaign activities or personal business and violated a previous order of the Board of Ethics for these violations of the Code of Ethics. |
Settlement agreement |
$3,000 fine; Public reprimand |
|
Use of city property |
Employee used city credit card for personal purchases. |
Settlement agreement |
None |