.... Upon discovering that the paralegals were left with nothing to do for
hours-on-end, the OIG investigators continued their probe and found
that the paralegals -- who made an average base salary of $75,000.00 per
year -- were using their desk computers to visit social media websites
such as Facebook, watching television, going out to exercise, going
home to do laundry or wash dishes, and other non-work activities, at
times being paid time-and-a-half for overtime.
Even more troubling was the fact that paralegals were given
"performance bonuses" amounting to thousands of dollars for each worker
by the Patent Office management staff who also received large bonuses.....