Ex-PVCC instructor accused of falsifying schedule

A former adjunct instructor who taught private classes at Piedmont Virginia Community College has been accused of lying about how many classes and how many students he was teaching to get more pay.

David Ruffner, 45, of Palmyra, was charged in nine direct indictments in Albemarle County Circuit Court this month with obtaining money by false pretenses from Sperry Marine, which is a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman Corp. The charges stem from a yearlong investigation by the Virginia State Police’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation in Appomattox.
State police Lt. Joe Rader, who oversaw the investigation, said someone from PVCC contacted police in August 2008 about an adjunct instructor who may have been taking money improperly.
Ruffner could not be reached for comment for this story. His defense attorney, Andre Hakes, declined to comment for this story beyond saying that Ruffner is out on bond.

PVCC spokeswoman Anita Showers said Ruffner taught information technology classes from 2001 to 2008. Showers said Ruffner was a Northrop Grumman employee who provided specialized training for other employees through a contract training service in the school’s Workforce Services division.
“A company will contract for specific classes, and we arrange for those to take place and we pay the adjunct faculty person to teach the classes,” Showers said.
Sperry Marine paid PVCC for the courses, Showers said, and the college in turn paid Ruffner.
Northrop Grumman has not returned calls seeking comment for this story.

According to the indictments, Ruffner is accused of taking money from Sperry Marine between 2004 and 2008.
“We’re alleging he was falsifying records to the number of classes and the number of students taught and receiving pay above and beyond what he was entitled,” Rader said. “It was in the thousands of dollars.”
Ruffner is no longer a Northrop Grumman employee, Rader said.