Opinion ID: 2324757
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Bert Smith & Company letter.

Text: In September 1992, Ms. Okyiri received a copy of a draft audit by the independent accounting firm of Bert Smith & Company in which it was indicated that in 1990 the DCPL may have overspent its federal funds by $75,000. By letter dated October 22, 1992, the District of Columbia Controller's office directed the DCPL to provide an explanation. Lawrence E. Molumby, the Deputy Director of the DCPL and Ms. Okyiri's immediate supervisor, requested Ms. Okyiri to provide him with relevant documents relating to the alleged overspending. Ms. Okyiri, who had not been with the DCPL in 1990, was apparently unable to do so. Ms. Okyiri suggested that the DCPL request the Controller's office to obtain additional information from Bert Smith & Company. Mr. Molumby agreed, and on November 5, 1992, a letter was sent to the Controller under Dr. Franklin's signature requesting that additional information be obtained from the accounting firm. On December 22, 1992, Bert Smith & Company mailed the requested information directly to Ms. Okyiri. Unfortunately, however, Ms. Okyiri didn't pay much attention to [the envelope from Bert Smith & Company] when it arrived and left it sitting in her in-box. [5] Notwithstanding the potential importance of the information which the DCPL had been seekingif there had been overspending, as alleged, then the DCPL could have been required to reimburse the federal governmentMs. Okyiri completely ignored the accounting company's letter for more than two months. Ms. Okyiri was not alone in her passivity; neither Dr. Franklin nor Mr. Molumby made any inquiry about the subject during this period. [6] On March 3, 1993, the Controller notified Dr. Franklin that Bert Smith & Company had provided the requested information to the DCPL on December 22, and that the DCPL had failed to provide any explanation of the alleged overspending. The Controller's letter was severe in tone and, in Mr. Molumby's words, threaten[ed] some kind of extreme measure if we didn't get this cleared up. Mr. Molumby immediately asked Ms. Okyiri whether she was aware of any communication from Bert Smith & Company. Ms. Okyiri looked in her in-box and observed a large envelope. Remarking that this must be it, she then handed Mr. Molumby the unopened package. Ms. Okyiri testified that the first time she was aware of the envelope was when Mr. Molumby inquired about the matter, and that if I had seen it before it didn't register. [7] As it turned out, the letter from the accountants further revealed that the initial report was in error and that there had been no overspending in 1990. The DCPL therefore was not penalized or harmed as a result of the inaction of Ms. Okyiri and of her superiors. Ms. Okyiri's explanation for leaving the unopened communication in her in-box from December through March was that she had been busy preparing the budget and, as she told Mr. Molumby, that people make mistakes. She also claimed that the original of the document would ordinarily have been sent to Dr. Franklin, who had made the request to the Controller, and that she believed that the envelope sent to her contained only a courtesy copy. [8]