"L.A. Fire Department's Stone-Age Payroll System Allowed Captain Eric Vasquez to Collect an Extra $77K Last Year"

By Simone Wilson
LA Weekly
November 9, 2011
Link: http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2011/11/la_fire_department_pay_eric_vasquez.php

Excerpts (see news article cited directly above):

• For the first time ever, department officials entered their employees' timecards into a computer (magic!) -- then acted surprised to discover a little foul play. 
• L.A. Fire Captain Eric Vasquez, a 17-year veteran, had been chalking up some extra hours on his caveman's tablet.  $50,000 for 23 weeks of paid vacation last year, to be exact. On top of a $108,000 annual salary and about $27,000 more for bonuses and overtime. 
• Equally unsurprising: He was the same guy "in charge of timekeeping for the section and manually entered the information for vacation pay." 
• The Daily News reports that City Controller Wendy Greuel found around 50 more LAFD employees had made small mark-ups, as well. 
• L.A. Fire Captain Tina Haro tells the Weekly: "We're not confirming a name, but we do have a member who was placed on administrative leave with pay." 
• So it looks like Vasquez might be collecting cash on his rogue days off, once again -- though his LinkedIn profile begs to differ.

Commentary:

• The District Attorney needs to investigate the matter.
• Knowingly submitting false payroll records is a crime.