The classic movie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, has captivated our imaginations for two decades. Ferris lives out the dream of the ultimate sick day–one that few would dare to attempt. Most notably, while his day begins with innocent fun, it ends with a very expensive mistake–a classic Ferrari is totaled. It’s amazing how one day off could have such serious financial repercussions.
More than twenty years later in real life, we have a story of "hooky" that involves more people and a much greater financial loss. We’ll call it the San Jose City Auditors’ Months Off. This time, the loss is not a car–instead it’s hundreds of thousands of San Jose taxpayer dollars.
The San Jose City Auditor’s Office staff is staying home "sick" due to internal office turmoil over a sexual harassment lawsuit, and taxpayers are footing the bill. According to the San Jose Mercury News (July 20, 2007), "In the first month after [the] sexual harassment scandal sent San Jose’s city auditor and much of his office out on paid leave, taxpayers shelled out some $45,000 for staffers to stay home." Furthermore, an auditor, "who abruptly went on leave May 17, said the total bill eventually could exceed a half-million dollars, noting that his salary alone costs the city more than $15,000 a month."
Are these absences the result of judicial punishment? Most of them are not. The San Jose City Auditor, who was not named as a defendant in the sexual harassment lawsuit, was charged with creating a "sexually pervasive and hostile work environment." But, the auditor actually took "stress" leave before the lawsuit was even filed. In addition, city officials have indicated many other auditor’s office employees took leave before the lawsuit was filed, including the employee who filed the action.
Just how many of these city employees have participated in this expensive game of hooky? "As many as half a dozen members of the office have been out on various leaves because of the scandal." The scandalous events are dominating office expenses as "[v]acation, sick days and other leaves consumed 616 hours of audit time from mid-May to mid-June…nearly 30% of the department’s total monthly audit cost of $151,699." In turn, "[t]hat made vacation and leave the department’s single biggest expense." Comparatively, before the sexual harassment incident, "[d]uring the same period a year ago, vacation and leave totaled just 120 hours of audit time and cost of $9,213."
Unfortunately, the San Jose City Auditors’ Months Off could potentially drag on and on. It appears that many more months of sick days for these employees are anticipated because "San Jose has already outsourced one audit to a consultant for $70,000 and hired a retired state auditor for $10,000 to manage the 16-member office in [the city auditor’s] absence."
The employees’ paid home time has also "disrupted [the mayor’s] plan to expand the auditor’s office, which he has noted saves about $7 for every dollar spent on it by rooting out waste and inefficiency in city departments and programs." Calling the scandal a "disruption" to the plan is a gross understatement. Through their sick time, the wannabe Ferris Buellers have managed to turn their office into a self-defeating joke.
Obviously sexual harassment is abhorrent behavior that must be punished. However, taking advantage of the system by skipping disproportionate amounts of work at the expense of taxpayers cannot be excused either. These employees have misused the system so inappropriately that now, their time at home has completely countered their office’s purpose–to eliminate inefficiencies and waste in their city. They should take a cue from the beloved 80s movie- it’s a sick day, not a sick month, or months. Scandals on any level of government should only punish the perpetrators, not taxpayers.
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