An athletics photographer with the University of Tennessee at Knoxville was at the center of a state investigation that claims he had been taking pictures of non-UT athletes and "abused university work time and equipment for his personal benefit."
The office of the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury released the findings of an investigation Thursday into the photographer in question. The office, which investigates reports of fraud, waste and abuse of state funds and property, said it was notified on May 15, 2017 by UT's athletic department of an employee they suspected had been compensated for outside work during working hours using UT equipment.
The comptroller's office said as a state employee, the photographer's actions "resulted in the waste and abuse of taxpayer dollars."
The investigation dug into records and activity between Feb. 1, 2014 and June 30, 2017. It found a sports photographer had been paid by other colleges, universities and athletic organizations hosted by UT to take photos of their athletes for a fee.
The report said this all happened while the employee was on the clock at sporting events hosted by UT, and that the photographer had been using equipment provided by UT to facilitate this outside paid work -- including photographic equipment, a cell phone and his university email account.
The report said the photographer was supposed to be at these events to photograph just UT athletes and relevant material for use by the university. In addition, the report claims the photographer also had UT student assistants and non-students photograph non-UT athletes, and these aides were paid in cash by the photographer.
Overall, the office said the photographer received at least $9,240 in outside compensation from other organizations while he was supposed to be performing his duties as UT's photographer.
The report said the photographer also received nearly $6,500 in additional compensation from outside organizations while he was not on the clock, but could not determine if UT photographic equipment had been used in these cases.
The comptroller's office recommended university officials should determine whether the photographer violated UT policy, but did not specify if his actions explicitly violated policy or what specific actions the university could take in response.
