Sacked by MnDOT, Pitt is fired again - Homeland Security investigated why she had been hired as a security specialist......

Homeland Security investigated why she had been hired as a after she was let go in Minnesota.





The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has fired Sonia Pitt, the former MnDOT emergency response executive who lost her state job for failing to return to Minnesota in the days after the I-35W bridge collapse.

Pitt was hired two months ago to work in Washington as a security specialist for the agency's Transportation Security Administration.

TSA spokeswoman Ellen Howe said that the latest termination was based on information that MnDOT sent to the federal agency Thursday at TSA's request. The TSA opened an investigation into Pitt's hiring in May about two weeks ago.

Howe said she couldn't comment on the reasoning behind Pitt losing her $89,920 job, but said the information MnDOT sent "corroborated our investigation.''

Thursday was the first time the TSA had contacted the Minnesota agency about Pitt's dismissal, said MnDOT spokeswoman Lucy Kender.

"All I can say is, they called us this afternoon for the first time regarding this issue, about Sonia Pitt's termination status," Kender said.

She said the information sent to Washington was a detailed report from the arbitrator who upheld Pitt's dismissal from her MnDOT post in November.

MnDOT fired Pitt for misusing state money by taking personal trips, violating state ethics policies, embarrassing the agency and abusing her state-paid cell phone.

MnDOT also accused her of making 94 hours of personal calls from her cell phone to a Federal Highway Administration official with whom she was involved in a personal relationship.

Unauthorized trip to D.C.

Pitt, 44, of Red Wing, lost her high-level job at MnDOT after she failed to return from an unauthorized, state-paid trip to Washington, D.C., during the bridge crisis. The bridge collapsed Aug. 1, and Pitt didn't return to Minnesota until Aug. 11. State investigators later determined that there was no work-related reason for her to be in Washington and that her trip there was unauthorized and at taxpayer expense.

The arbitrator upheld her firing in a 25-page public ruling on May 15. Ten days later, she was hired as a "transportation security specialist" at TSA headquarters in Arlington, Va. She remained under standard probationary status as a new employee, a status that allowed the agency to act quickly in ordering her dismissal Thursday.

TSA officials declined to comment on any aspect of Pitt's application for employment or what tipped the agency to investigate her hiring.

In general, Howe said, TSA relies on information provided by job applicants "to conduct pre-employment vetting" to determine their "preliminary" suitability or eligibility. Before entering duty, each new employee is then subject to a full field background investigation commensurate with the sensitivity level of their position, Howe said.

She might face charges

Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner said Thursday that her staff is nearly finished reviewing "reams" of documents related to deciding whether criminal charges will be brought against Pitt for unauthorized travel and other expenses she charged to the state while at MnDOT. She said she expects a decision will be made within weeks on whether to file charges. Deciding if there is enough evidence to prove intent to defraud will be a major factor in whether to bring charges, Gaertner said.

However, recouping the $26,400 that authorities say was misspent by Pitt on her business trips remains a possibility if the state attorney general's office decides to file a civil action.

Pitt has declined to comment. On Wednesday, she referred all questions to her attorney.

Pitt's attorney in the arbitration case, John Fabian, did not return phone calls made Wednesday and Thursday to his Minneapolis office.

Rise to director

Documents show that Pitt started her government career in the 1990s as a low-level publicity agent for various state agencies, including MnDOT. In November 2003, MnDOT promoted her from her communications job to a newly created job to develop the agency's office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

In her capacity as director, Pitt was in charge of obtaining grants and developing MnDOT's emergency response, planning, training and exercises. Documents show she was initially the only employee in the unit, but by the time she was fired, the office had six employees and an annual budget of more than $5.5 million in grant money to support the program. Pitt's annual pay at the time of her dismissal was about $84,600.