The fallout from a 25 Investigates undercover probe into apparent payroll abuse is widening inside the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
A MassDOT spokesperson confirmed that a total of 12 employees—consisting of eight highway maintenance workers and four front-line supervisors—have now been placed on unpaid administrative leave pending formal disciplinary hearings. Additionally, a senior supervisor has been reassigned.
All 12 suspended employees face immediate termination and potential criminal prosecution for fraud and larceny if they are found to have inflated their paychecks.
The new developments signal an escalation from last week when the agency initially sidelined seven highway workers.
It comes after Governor Maura Healey said she, “went through the roof” watching the Boston 25 report.
The apparent systemic failure prompted immediate changes at MassDOT, according to an internal email obtained by 25 Investigates. MassDOT Highway Administrator and Undersecretary of Transportation Jonathan Gulliver issued an urgent directive to all district heads and department chiefs last Wednesday, one day after the initial report aired.
Directly linking the 25 Investigates story in the email, Gulliver wrote that the allegations “represent a serious breach of public trust” that “undermines public confidence in MassDOT.”
“I am directing each District and Department to immediately review overtime practices within your respective areas, with a focus on high OT earners,” Gulliver ordered in the memo. “This review should validate hours worked and ensure consistency with our SOPs, including appropriate supervisory oversight.”
Gulliver directed that all district directors submit a comprehensive audit detailing their top ten overtime earners, along with the findings of their broader overtime reviews, to agency leadership by the end of next week.
The emergency crackdown stems from a seven-month undercover surveillance operation conducted by 25 Investigates at the District Six maintenance facility in Charlestown.
Legally binding timesheets obtained through a public records request revealed marathon shifts that appeared physically impossible to sustain. According to agency documentation, at least eight of the monitored employees routinely claimed to work consecutive double shifts. Records reveal workers would claim an entire overnight shift and a standard day shift, paid at time-and-a-half.
25 Investigates documented the workers leaving hours early, with surveillance catching two employees returning to their homes while still on the clock. One worker managed to pull down a staggering $240,000 in total compensation last year alone.
Independent investigators retained by the state have already conducted interviews with more than 20 employees connected to the yard. However, an internal agency source says the workers profiled by 25 Investigates are remaining silent.
In an official statement, MassDOT confirmed that its independent investigators are now expanding their forensic review beyond the Charlestown yard, launching a sweeping audit of overtime practices across the state.
Gulliver has also ordered the immediate acceleration of an overtime approval and tracking tool. Originally scheduled for a late autumn rollout, the system has been fast-tracked for mandatory deployment this summer.
“The overwhelming majority of our workforce performs overtime work professionally, honestly, and under difficult conditions,” Gulliver wrote to staff, and echoed in the agency’s public statement. The agency emphasized that any ongoing conduct violating public trust will be pursued.
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