Apr
11
Nudity to cost woman DCF job
Filed Under single stories, social services | Comments Off
By KATHLEEN CHAPMAN
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
WEST PALM BEACH – Department of Children and Families supervisors say they will fire a child abuse investigator who took off her clothes on the Howard Stern show.
When she came into work Monday, Alison Cushman received a letter that says she has 10 days to respond before losing her job.
Cushman first got naked in an appearance on Stern’s radio show in February 2005. Nearly a year later, fellow state employees saw Cushman on a televised replay. Those workers said Cushman identified herself as a child abuse investigator for the state of Florida on the show, according to state records.
When Cushman’s bosses found out about the 2005 incident two months ago, they warned her that she was one step from being fired for “conduct unbecoming a public employee.”
“You admitted to the behavior and apologized for not exercising good judgement,” interim DCF District Administrator Deborah Fenstermaker wrote. But Cushman returned to the show April 4 on a trip to New York with her new husband, Boynton Beach police Detective Troy Raines. Photos of her naked are posted on Stern’s Web site.
Although Cushman was on vacation at the time of her appearance, state employees are warned that they can get in trouble for conduct both on and off the job, DCF spokeswoman Marilyn Munoz said.
Cushman, 31, was hired by the DCF in 2003 after working as a probation officer, an investigator for the public defender and a social worker helping mentally ill people.
As a child abuse investigator, Cushman has been responsible for looking into allegations that children were harmed and helping to decide whether they should be taken into state foster care.
According to a summary on the show’s Web site, Raines also appeared on the show and gave Stern a replica of his police badge.
Boynton Beach police spokesman Lt. Jeff Katz said supervisors will speak with Raines when he returns to work today.
“We will review everything that occurred,” Katz said. “We will see if there was any clear identification he made linking him to the department.”
Staff writer Stephanie Slater contributed to this story.
Copyright 2006 The Palm Beach Newspapers, Inc.
Palm Beach Post (Florida)
April 11, 2006 Tuesday
FINAL EDITION
SECTION: LOCAL; Pg. 3B
LENGTH: 346 words