SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — An attorney for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services was fired after a report from the Office of Executive Inspector General found that she was allegedly doing work for a bank on state time.
The OEIG report said that Deborah Riley began working at the DCFS Office of Legal Services in Urbana on November 16, 2022. She served as senior regional counsel, which involved representing DCDS in hearings, appearing in court, interviewing witnesses, and evaluating cases.
Since DCFS has rules on outside work and secondary employment, Riley disclosed to the state that she was a part-time employee at a bank and did occasional work on the weekends. The name of the bank was not disclosed in the report.
But the OEIG found that Riley was working at the bank even more hours than in her DCFS position during some weeks.
A chart from an OEIG report showing hours logged by DCFS lawyer Deborah Riley.
"Ms. Riley was shown the printout from the Bank reflecting the total hours she reported working approximately every two weeks for the November 25, 2022 to May 15, 2023 pay dates, as described above, and she said that the listed hours seemed correct as what she reported working for the Bank," read a portion of the report. "She claimed that she worked of all these hours outside of her DCFS work hours, including before or after her DCFS shifts, on weekends, and on State and Bank holidays"
The claim that bank work was being performed during breaks and off hours was found "not credible" by the OEIG's office.
A partially redacted letter included in the report showed that Riley was fired for cause in August of 2024.
This and other reports released by the Office of Executive Inspector General can be found here.
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