Homeland Security probes MnDOT official's hiring

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says it will now check potential employees' backgrounds on the Internet after the department hired and then fired a disgraced Minnesota transportation official.

Kip Hawley, the top administrator for the Transportation Security Administration, recently made the change in hiring practices.

TSA had hired Sonia Pitt, who was fired in November from her emergency response job at MnDOT. She was fired from MnDOT after records showed she failed to return for 10 days from an unauthorized state-paid trip in the aftermath of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse.

The Department of Homeland Security fired Pitt July 31 after information from MnDOT backed up information from an internal investigation.

Homeland Security officials are investigating why Pitt continued to hold a federal security clearance after her MnDOT dismissal. They're also looking at Pitt's TSA application and whether corruption was involved in her hiring.