PHOENIX β Gov. Doug Ducey has suspended the head of the Department of Economic Security's ability to terminate agency employees and installed a personnel monitor in the wake of a large number of dismissals.
The Arizona Republic reports (http://bit.ly/2eaLtxuΒ ) that DES Director Tim Jeffries said Tuesday that it was his idea to give the Arizona Department of Administration final say over firings at his agency. The Governor's Office said that was not the case, and that firing power was taken from Jeffries and his management team.
The move comes a week after The Republic reported that DES had dismissed a record 475 workers from Jan. 1, 2015, through September. The newspaper also reported that one fired DES employee was dismissed without cause just months before qualifying for full state retirement.
