DETROIT – A city of Detroit Office of Inspector General report found that two Detroit Department of Transportation employees engaged in inappropriate romantic conduct on duty, abandoned a running bus, and received lenient discipline that violated department policy.
After receiving an anonymous complaint in June, the OIG concluded Senior Transportation Service Inspector Andre Reece and Transportation Equipment Operator Dayna Ruff met repeatedly during work shifts in May and July 2025.
In one instance, on May 6, the investigation uncovered video footage showing the two “fondling each other” on a bus.
It found Reece, then reported an unsubstantiated mechanical issue with the bus, took the bus out of commission, and took Ruff to a fast-food restaurant, disrupting bus service for 115 minutes.
On May 20, the report says Reece and Ruff met up multiple times along Ruff’s route and, at one point, abandoned the bus while it was still running.
That day, the report says DDOT received a complaint via a customer assistance form about the abandoned bus, but Inspector General Kamau Marable says leadership didn’t properly investigate it.
“We found out that the supervisors who were responsible for dealing with this type of issue were very lenient in their response to it,” Marable said in an interview with Local 4.
The report found both employees failed to disclose their supervisor‑subordinate relationship as required by a city executive order and DDOT’s fraternization procedures. Reece, an STSI since 2006, described his role in an interview with the OIG as “basically DDOT police without the badge,” the report noted.
Superintendent of Operations Howard Bragg classified the conduct as Class IV offenses, which are typically punishable by a 30-day suspension followed by termination, as mandated by the 2008 DDOT Employee Handbook.
Instead, Bragg gave both Reece and Ruff five-day suspensions.
Marable said Bragg never reviewed the video footage of the two from inside the bus.
“For some reason, this individual only chose to review the footage basically from outside of the bus and not the full interaction,” Marable said. “We found that very problematic.”
DDOT’s Safety Department had recommended 30‑day suspensions with a recommendation for discharge after reviewing video evidence, according to the report.
Assistant Director Andre Mallet was also faulted for failing to re-evaluate discipline after learning of the corroborating video.
The OIG concluded that Bragg and Mallet abused their authority by failing to seek and review available video before issuing discipline and by allowing disciplinary practices inconsistent with the employee handbook.
Bragg and Mallet submitted written responses to a draft report, arguing that they had relied on Human Resources guidance and that certain videos were unavailable to them at the time.
The OIG said those explanations did not alter its findings.
“The real victims in this were the citizens who were waiting on buses that did not come on time because you had individuals who did not take their job and responsibilities seriously,” Marable said.
The report recommends disciplinary action against Reece and Ruff for violations, including dereliction of duty, insubordination, and unauthorized use of city vehicles; discipline for Bragg and Mallet for supervisory failures, stricter enforcement of fraternization rules, greater oversight of discipline decisions, and training for DDOT leadership.
Executive Director of Transit Robert Cramer provided the following statement to Local 4:
“The fairness and thoroughness of the disciplinary process is critically important to building a culture of professionalism and accountability at DDOT, especially when it comes to dealing with employee misconduct.
This OIG report stems from an incident in May, and the two DDOT employees involved were investigated and disciplined at the time.
DDOT has already implemented changes that address some of the OIG recommendations related to improving policies and procedures and is evaluating the full set of recommendations that will be addressed in the DDOT response to OIG by the January 23rd date the OIG requested.
We will ensure that employee disciplinary actions align with the City’s Human Resource standards and improve processes to prevent discipline not being applied appropriately in the future.
DDOT takes this matter very seriously and is committed to addressing these recommendations quickly now that the OIG has finished its work.”
Executive Director of Transit Robert Cramer
The City of Detroit Office of Inspector General investigates fraud, abuse, waste, and corruption in city government. Tips can be submitted anonymously at 313-964-TIPS or online here.