Rhode Island Worker Sues City Over Alleged Whistleblower Retaliation

A Providence, Rhode Island, city employee who says she was compelled to resign from her previous position after years of reporting coworkers’ fraudulent credit card spending is suing the city.

The Providence Journal reports that Charlene Oliver previously worked as a purchasing agent for the Providence Water Supply Board.

Oliver says in 2015 she began reporting to superiors that agency credit cards were being used for personal purchases, including clothes, makeup and household goods.

She says she was repeatedly reprimanded and later transferred to a lower-paying municipal job.

Oliver says the water board failed to investigate her reports and violated Rhode Island’s Whistleblowers’ Protection Act.

An agency supervisor was charged in May with making $13,000 in fraudulent credit card purchases.

The city says it doesn’t comment on ongoing litigation.

Information from: The Providence Journal