TSA Has Fired 112 Honolulu Employees Since 2002

HONOLULU -- The Transportation Security Administration has fired 112 of its Honolulu employees for misconduct and other offenses since the agency began operating in Hawaii in April 2002, KITV has learned. That's roughly 17 percent of its workforce terminated for cause.

KITV's investigation found Hawaii TSA screeners were fired for sleeping on the job, being drunk or high at work and abandoning their posts.

TSA's Honolulu office has a high percentage of firings compared to other stressful workplaces, such as the Honolulu Police Department.

Since 2002, four Honolulu TSA employees have been fired for sleeping on duty, another five were let go for being drunk at work and six others were terminated for failing drug tests.

"We don't want our screeners to be acting inappropriately, because we are in a position of public trust and if we violate that trust, then we're not doing our job," TSA spokesman Nico Melendez said.

HONOLULU TSA FIRING REASONS
Description	No. Of Workers Fired
Miscellaneous	20
Attendance	15
Failed Certification	14
Absent Without Leave/ Abandonment	13
Misconduct	10
Failed Drug Test	6
Under Influence of Alcohol	5
Sleeping on Duty	4
Excessive Leave	4
Failure to Follow Procedures	3
Time Sheet Falsification/Attendance	3
Unsatisfactory Performance	2
Inappropriate Behavior	2
Security Breach	1
Improper Security Procedures	1
Felony Involving Assault	1
Failure to Follow Security Measures	1
Took Prohibited Item	1
Sexual Harassment	1
Sexual Misconduct	1
Improper Screening Procedures	1
Security Background Check	1
No Show For Exam	1
Failed Training	1

Fifteen TSA employees in Hawaii were fired for problems with attendance, while another 13 were terminated because they abandoned their posts or were absent without leave. Three others were let go for falsifying time sheets.

"We will research and investigate each claim fully and take steps when necessary because we expect our screeners to live up to a higher standard than anyone else," Melendez said.

One TSA screener was fired for a security breach, while another was let go for improper security procedures, still another for improper security screening and another for felony assault.

"We have good men and women who are dedicated to the security of aviation and to the security of the transportation system, and I think we need to recognize that we have more good people working for us than we do bad," Melendez said.

Because of employee privacy rules, the TSA would not release specifics of the cases.

"They're working weird shifts, they're working long hours and working under extreme conditions and working under conditions, where they have to deal with passengers that sometimes are not too friendly," Melendez said.

HONOLULU TSA FIRINGS
Year	No. Of Workers Fired
2002	7
2003	60
2004	33
2005	12

The TSA said the number of Honolulu TSA employees fired has decreased since a high of 60 in 2003 -- its first full year of operation. Thirty-three were fired in 2004 and just 12 were terminated last year. That works out to the TSA firing about 17 percent of its 630 employees over the last few years.

That's a much higher percentage than at the Honolulu Police Department, which also provides 24-hour service to the public in often-stressful situations. Just eight HPD employees were fired in the last three years out of nearly 2,800. That's a tiny fraction of 1 percent.