A whistleblower in the purple state of Kentucky lost her job at the Department of Transportation after she exposed a scheme to provide illegal immigrants with driver’s licenses in exchange for under-the-table cash, going on to file a lawsuit against the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and make the case that she was wrongfully terminated.
For background, on August 11, 2025, WDRB reported that former DOT clerk Melissa Moorman had been fired after she was roped into a scheme that her coworkers engaged in that involved accepting cash in exchange for no-questions-asked driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants. After Moorman realized that something suspicious was going on, she wrote a letter to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet explaining the scheme, but was subsequently fired.
As Moorman tells it, she was fully transparent with the state about the fraudulent activity going on at the DOT. “I was approached by an outside source to go into a ‘business venture’ that would take place at KYTC DDL office,” Moorman wrote in her letter to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, adding, “Someone will have Birth certificates, social security cards, statements, and bills that are made to look legitimate.”
Continuing, Moorman explained in her letter that the “outside source” that invited her to take part in the so-called “business venture” had explained that illegal aliens were being given driver’s licenses with “Additional payment…made to the individual for the service.” Moorman clarified that she refused the offer.
However, as Moorman explained to WDRB, “The undocumented workers would come into the office in groups. They would provide them with a permit or driver’s license illegally, so they would bypass without even taking the test.” Moorman then verified that the DMV workers engaged in the scam were being paid “$200 a person.”
Furthermore, Moorman said that the DOT employees who ran the scam “were being paid underneath (sic) the table,” adding, “I needed to let my supervisor know about it.” However, instead of being commended for coming forward, Moorman told WDRB that she was fired. “I was angry for a long time,” she said, adding, “It hurts me that I’m talking about this, and I actually liked where I was working at.”
In addition, the former clerk explained that she was unwilling to participate in the scam, but that her coworkers roped her in against her will. She told WDRB, “I was asked to bring certain customers in,” adding, “They are brought in to me without a sign-in, and you would scan their documents as usual.”
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Moreover, Moorman’s attorney, Gary Adams, told WDRB that it was “shocking” that such a scandal could have unfolded at the Department of Transportation “for so long,” adding, “Why punish the employee who reported it? She should be the hero. There’s a failure to supervise these employees.” Adams concluded, “There were obviously no checks and balances. It would appear to me that if you have systems to safeguard these licenses, these tests, and also the fiscal or monetary function, an audit should have been done.”
Watch Moorman tell her story:
Featured image credit: video screengrab