State worker fired over browsing history. NC judge calls investigation ‘suspect’

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After the North Carolina Department of Labor said it terminated an employee in part for using her work computer for personal browsing, a judge has decided the agency must remove the dismissal notice from her personnel file.

The administrative law judge’s decision last month says that Elizabeth “Beth” Benson, who worked at the Department of Labor for 11 years, would receive back pay from Jan. 14, 2026 — the date Benson received the notice of dismissal — until she is reinstated.

The labor department said it removed Benson for unacceptable personal conduct, including personal browsing on a state-owned computer, that could have embarrassed the agency if taxpayers found out. But Administrative Law Judge Stacey Bice Bawtinhimer wrote in her decision that the claim “is unsupported by evidence,” including actual harm to the Department of Labor.

“NCDOL’s theory rests entirely on hypothetical reputational harm,” Bawtinhimer wrote. “NCDOL could not even quantify the amount of personal browsing or distinguish active browsing from automatic entries which at most appeared to be three hours within one day.”

Benson also claimed that the termination was “unlawful discrimination, harassment or retaliation based on disability and political affiliation,” according to the final decision. The document does not detail what Benson’s disability is or her political affiliation. Voter registration records list her as unaffiliated.

The labor department is led by elected Labor Commissioner Luke Farley, a first-term Republican who took office in January 2025.

John Wesley Waugh, a spokesperson for the labor department, told The News & Observer in an emailed statement that the agency “strongly disagrees with significant portions of the ALJ’s ruling and has asked the North Carolina Court of Appeals to review and stay the decision.”

He said some of the conclusions “contain substantial legal and factual errors, including rulings that exceeded the ALJ’s statutory authority and misapplied governing law.”

“Those issues are now properly before the Court of Appeals, and we will make our case through the judicial process rather than litigate it through the media,” Waugh said.

Valerie Bateman, the listed attorney for Benson, told The N&O in an email statement that “the decision speaks for itself, as also does the ‘emergency’ petition to the Court of Appeals in a run-of-the-mill personnel case.”

Benson now works as an agency HR manager for the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, which is part of Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s administration.

Benson in November 2025 received a written warning for insubordination for unacceptable personal conduct, according to the decision.

In December, Benson was placed on investigatory leave with pay so the agency could “investigate allegations of disruptions in the workplace and deficiencies that would constitute just cause for disciplinary action,” the document says. The labor department also alleged that Benson had failed to cross-train her subordinates. Cross-training involves teaching employees about tasks that fall outside their primary job responsibilities.

The decision says that the “timing of this disciplinary investigation was suspect as there were no allegations of job deficiencies or disruptions in the workforce due to Benson’s use of her State-issued computers and, at that time, only one purported allegation … which proved untrue, that same morning for Benson’s alleged failure to cross-train her subordinates.”

Since Benson’s role is under a particular category, the labor department “could not dismiss her without providing alternative employment unless there was just cause for dismissal,” according to the decision. In December, the agency “did not have sufficient grounds to terminate Benson for cause.”

Benson admitted to using her laptop for personal use — including looking at job postings, houses for sale and her personal financial accounts — “but denied such use was excessive, disruptive of her job responsibilities or outside the norm of” the agency’s acceptable use policy, according to the document.

In January 2026, Benson received a dismissal notice citing two reasons for just cause: unacceptable personal conduct for browsing non-work-related websites on her state-issued computer, and unsatisfactory job performance for failing to cross-train her two subordinates, according to the decision.

The state Office of Administrative Hearings reviewed both reasons, and did interviews with staff members and examinations of the labor department’s policies. The judge wrote that “neither one supported dismissal for just cause.”

The labor department did admit that “it could not dismiss Benson for Unsatisfactory Job Performance because she had only one prior written warning,” according to the final decision. The agency also “could not even quantify the amount of personal browsing … which at most appeared to be three hours within one day.”

“Moreover, NCDOL failed to show any negative impact on Benson’s job performance,” according to the decision. “And, in fact, NCDOL wholly ignored Benson’s exemplary work history, including her role in reducing vacancy levels and covering duties during staffing shortages.”

The judge also said that other “employees who engaged in far more significant personal use were not dismissed. Only one employee was terminated, and that case involved viewing pornography – a situation self-evidently far more serious than Benson’s incidental personal usage.”

Since the labor department could not establish just cause for Benson’s dismissal, according to the decision, “Benson is entitled to reinstatement and full statutory remedies … including reassignment to a similar position at the same grade and salary.”

The decision says that because the steps to investigate Benson’s claim that she was discriminated or retaliated against based on political affiliation and disability were not properly followed, Benson has another opportunity to file the grievance within 15 days of the decision being issued. The decision was issued on Sept. 16.

The labor department has asked the N.C. Court of Appeals to review and stay the decision, according to the agency.

This story was originally published October 5, 2026 at 11:24 AM with the headline “State worker fired over browsing history. NC judge calls investigation ‘suspect’.”