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A Providence Water supply board employee under fire tonight.

A customer says the worker solicited business on company time.        

A local customer called the water company when she lost water to her home this past winter, when an employee came knocking on her door, she thought her problems were over...but little did she know, they were just beginning.

It was a long cold winter...hundreds of homes lost water because of frozen pipes...including one local customer who asked us not to reveal her identity.   In a written complaint  to call for action, she says she called the P rovidence water supply board looking for help.

According to her complaint, two employees showed up in a "water department truck".   She said "one man...told the other to leave"  when the customer and this employee were alone,  she claims he told her *he* could have water running to her home the very next day, he said he would personally "fix the problem cheaper" than the plumber she had hired.   With that the customer wrote two *personal* checks to this man totalling $450.   In her complaint, the customer said   she "had difficulty" in getting him to complete the work. And she still didn't have running water as promised. Even though he came to "the house more than 5 times" "sometimes in a water department truck and other times in his own vehicle."

In the complaint the customer also says that at one point the providence water supply employee got into her home when she wasn't there, when she confronted him about it, he said the water company supplies their employees with a "special card to get into homes in case of an emergency, and he didn't think she' would have a problem with that....she didthe city employee did replace a $4.00 shut off valve, but as for the other $446 dollars...the customer said he did nothing else.

The Investigators contacted the Providence water supply board, no one would go on camera, but in a statement we were told that they would conduct an internal investigation.     Just yesterday they  suspended the city employee without pay until the investigation is complete

 We also asked the water supply board about this "special card" their employee claims he has to get  into homes in case of an emergency,  they said they don't have anything like that, and that too is part of the investigation.   

If this case rises to a criminal offense, we're told it will be referred to the appropriate department for prosecution.