State Worker Gave Massages on the Job in Bellevue Office

An ex-state worker gave free massages to her coworkers while she was still working at the state Department of Ecology's office in Bellevue, according to a whistleblower report from the state Auditor's Office.

The Olympian's Brad Shannon reports that Shannon M. Cline, who left her job at Ecology in April, now runs her own massage therapy business in Bellevue. Cline told Brad Shannon that the free massages were done on breaks that are allowed by state law, with the knowledge of her manager, and that she was "shocked" to hear that the report found wrongdoing.

Cline told Shannon that she was not running a business at that point.

According to the Auditor's Report, Cline was studying to be a massage therapist, which requires a certain number of practice hours on patients:

The subject used approximately 85.45 hours of state time to give massages to other Agency employees. This does not include the time related to 271 email messages the subject sent and responded to regarding massages. This use exceeds de minimis and is a violation of the state ethics law.

The auditor's office also found that in November and December she sent an additional 135 personal email messages and searched music, airlines, cooking and her own personal email account on her state laptop computer, according to the audit.

The auditor's report cited state law that prohibits the use of state resources for "private gain."

Click on the thumbnail of the report above to download the PDF of the whole report.

According to KOMO-TV, Cline was responsible for responding to oil spills and haz-mat situations. She told The Olympian that because of the nature of her job, she had to cancel all but 34 hours of the appointments.

The auditor's office has forwarded its conclusions to the State Ethics Board, according to the report.

Online
Washington State Auditor's Office: Department of Ecology Whistleblower Report
The Olympian: Ex-Ecology worker rapped by audit for giving 85 hours of free massages to co-workers on taxpayers’ dime
KOMO-TV: Audit: Ex-state worker surfed web, gave massages on state time