Fighting For Change

“I want you to remember that every one of us, wherever you are now, can make a difference,” said Isabel Cumming, CFE, CIG. “And this case is about how one complaint from one person changed an entire city type of reform.” 

Cumming, the Inspector General of the City of Baltimore, started her presentation at the 37th Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference with these encouraging words for the work anti-fraud, waste and abuse professionals do. To prove this point, she shared a case that involved Baltimore’s Department of Public Works (DPW). 

“Inspector Generals combine the world of accounting and fraud and law, said Cumming. “And they become, truly, the people's watchdog.” 

Throughout her presentation, Cumming repeated the importance of an Inspector General’s office that is independent, meaning they work with and answer to the citizens of the city and not the heads of city agencies. 

Inhumane Conditions 

The case started with one complaint received by Cumming’s office in June 2024. A DPW worker described horrid conditions at a solid waste facility, so Cumming sent some of her agents out to verify the claims. It was 87 degrees outside. Agents found that there was no drinking water or ice available for workers and the employee locker room didn’t have air conditioning or fans. Since the conditions were a safety concern and considered inhumane a referral listing all the OIG’s findings was sent to the DPW, and the department was told to respond within five days. Cumming said the DPW responded within three days saying that the issues were resolved, water and cooling stations were provided and new, cooler uniforms were ordered. 

It sounded like changes had been made for the better, but then the Office of Inspector General (OIG) was contacted again. Someone reported that what the DPW office wrote wasn’t true, and the OIG officials needed to come back out in the morning when workers go out in their trucks. Cumming said the findings weren’t any better. Workers had been provided water, but it was, shockingly, provided in trash bins. 

The OIG then issued an emergency report, saying that things needed to be fixed, and DPW had the same response as before. This cycle continued again. More solid waste locations received surprise visits, and OIG officials found that DPW workers had to ask for toilet paper (reportedly to save money) and sometimes didn’t get it. The report said that at some locations, the hydration concerns also weren’t remedied, and at least one location had water in a locked cabinet as temperatures soared. Workers also didn’t receive sufficient training, including training on heat safety, and the culture at the department was questionable. Meanwhile, when Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott was interviewed in a news report about the conditions, he presented a long-term solution of facility updates and upgrades, but no immediate solutions were mentioned to remedy the conditions for the department’s workers. 

Unfortunate Outcomes 

Unfortunately, throughout all this back-and-forth between the OIG’s office and the DPW, some scary situations, and even tragedy, occurred. 

Workers reported that some of their co-workers suffered heat exhaustion. For another DPW worker, the heat turned fatal. A few months after the OIG received the initial complaint, solid waste worker Ron Silver died during his route. His cause of death was determined to be hyperthermia (overheating). 

When the OIG opened a death investigation, they found that neither of the workers on that truck had health insurance. Later, the OIG found that more than 100 solid waste workers didn’t have health insurance. Apparently, workers could receive $2,500 in compensation if they opted out of health insurance, but the investigation found that none took that compensation, potentially due to lack of awareness about the program. Workers weren’t automatically enrolled in a health insurance plan, so they had to go home and do this on their computers, but most didn’t have computers. 

Cumming said the city of Baltimore had touted itself as a second-chance facility, hiring individuals who may have had a criminal history and been on probation. 

“We learned that the second chance type of environment that [the city was] pushing so hard in Baltimore,” said Cumming, “was also being weaponized.” Many workers didn’t want to lose their jobs because losing their jobs would get them in trouble. Workers didn’t think they received proper training to move on from their positions. 

Turnaround Plans 

Cumming said that it took seven different reports, including a 45-page report about the culture of the DPW, for changes to start occurring. She said her office determined that “the DPW just became the forgotten group,” citing concerns with safety, injuries (another solid waste worker reportedly died following a work incident not related to the heat), disciplinary measures and the workers’ union. 

DPW workers continued to make their voices heard, including pleading at a city council meeting for better, safer work conditions. Cumming saw the news cycle was beginning to move on from the story, so she used social media to share video clips of the workers and even paid for her posts to be boosted. 

“Having done this job,” said Cumming, “You realize that their stories really mattered.” 

One DPW worker, Stancil McNair, who was vocal about the department’s working conditions, ran for election to become union president after it was determined that many of the department’s workers didn’t know any details about their union. McNair won the election, but not before Cumming got into some hot water for making a now-infamous social media post applauding McNair for running and later, another post announcing where the election would be held. She apparently wasn’t allowed at the time to post anything about the union on her personal social media. 

“It's very important, as an inspector general, to try to be as neutral as possible, and sometimes along the way, you may make mistakes,” said Cumming. “If you do, try as hard as you can to correct them, because not one of us is perfect.” 

Meanwhile, OSHA got involved in the case, and many reforms were put into place at the local and state levels. Cumming said DPW sanitation worker schedules were adjusted to avoid peak afternoon heat, workers at all yards received water, ice and Gatorade, AC maintenance in vehicles and facilities was prioritized, and trash collection would be suspended if the heat index reached 105 degrees. She also said there were changes to training and culture. Workers also began to receive better wages and, statewide, a loophole was closed, allowing OSHA to issue financial penalties for public sector safety violations. 

“This [case] shows you that when people really listen, when people take the time to interview and really talk to the people…when you hear all these men talk about what they have been through time after time, that resonates,” said Cumming. “Change happens when people have the courage to speak up.”