Demoted, paid more, and vanished: Inside the Pa. Game Commission’s ghost job for its former HR chief
When the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s own records office asked Christine Worley to produce emails from a one-month period, she responded in three words: “I have nothing.”
That response, now part of the public record, may be the most concise summary of what multiple commission sources describe as a deliberate arrangement for the commission’s former Human Resources director — a six-figure salary, no discernible work, and a title stripped away quietly while the paychecks kept coming.
Over the course of reporting on the PGC in the last five months, more than five commission sources told Fideri News Network that Worley was given a ghost job — each volunteering the claim independently, without being asked. Sources said she was removed from PGC’s Elmerton Avenue headquarters, her building access revoked, and placed into a position with no meaningful responsibilities.
State salary records obtained from PennWatch, the commonwealth’s public employee compensation database, show that sometime between December 2024 and January 2025, Worley’s classification at the Pennsylvania Game Commission changed from Human Resource Director to Human Resource Analyst 5 — a lower-ranking role. Her annual salary increased by roughly $2,500, from $109,947 to $112,450.
PennWatch records show that Delynn Steffen, who had been classified as Human Resource Analyst 3, was elevated directly to Human Resource Director sometime between February and March 2025 — skipping multiple classification levels in a single step.
Records obtained by Fideri News Network through the state’s Right-to-Know Law provide a stark illustration of what followed. For the month of Jan. 3 to Feb. 3, 2026, Worley’s email records consist almost entirely of agency-wide announcements and administrative blasts sent to all PGC employees. Of roughly 30 records produced for that period, only three or four were emails Worley herself wrote or sent.
For the following month, Feb. 4 to March 4, PGC produced seven responsive records total — retirement party announcements, an IT security notice sent to all staff, and a handful of exchanges with the agency’s own records office generated by this investigation. The only original email Worley sent during that entire window was a seven-word note to her supervisor asking for extra time at lunch.
The emails Worley did send offer their own window into her day. Rather than correspondence about personnel matters, policy questions, or HR administration, her outgoing emails to her direct supervisor centered on personal logistics — requesting extra time at lunch, and notifying him that she needed to use annual leave because of problems with her vehicle. Under commonwealth employment rules, even employees with no meaningful work to perform are still required to account for their time.
In her own communication to PGC’s records office explaining the thin response, Worley wrote that she had not sent or received any emails to or from staff, that she deleted announcements unless she needed to act on them, and that her only substantive outgoing correspondence during the period consisted of three emails about needing to use annual leave for vehicle issues.
Worley contested her reclassification before the Pennsylvania State Civil Service Commission, filing Appeal No. 31549. A public hearing was scheduled for March 31, 2026. It never happened. When Broad + Liberty contacted the commission to attend, a commission official responded that the hearing had been cancelled because a request to withdraw the appeal had been submitted.
PGC declined to address the specifics.
“The Pennsylvania Game Commission’s current executive leadership team will continue to handle personnel issues in accordance with the law and the processes set by the Commonwealth. With that, the agency cannot provide comments on confidential personnel issues, especially ones that have been through the legal process,” PGC spokesperson Travis Lau said. “The agency is focused on collaborating with its employees, as well as serving wildlife, hunters, trappers, conservationists, and the people of Pennsylvania.”
The Game Commission’s HR office has been under scrutiny in recent months. A March 2026 arbitration ruling found the agency had improperly issued retaliatory reprimands to two union officials, and a Broad + Liberty investigation published in March documented a pattern of workplace misconduct and institutional retaliation at the agency’s Central Dispatch Center in Harrisburg.
When asked one month ago about the recent arbitration ruling in favor of PGC employees against management, Lau also did not directly address the core matters.
“The Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) is a leader among state wildlife conservation agencies. The current executive leadership team will continue to handle personnel issues in accordance with the known processes set by the Commonwealth,” Lau said.
“Moving forward, the agency will be focused on looking ahead, collaborating with its employees, and focusing on serving wildlife, hunters, trappers, conservationists, and the people of Pennsylvania, rather than addressing long-past incidents,” he continued.
“The PGC greatly values the work of its employees and is proud of its reputation as a state agency in the Commonwealth. Of course, as PGC has stated, if a current employee has an issue, they are encouraged to reach out and make a report so it can addressed [sic] to ensure the PGC remains a great place to work,” Lau concluded.
NOTE TO READERS: This story was reported entirely by Todd Shepherd. The first draft of this article was written with significant assistance from an AI writing tool as part of an editorial experiment at Broad + Liberty. Shepherd reviewed, edited, and is responsible for all factual content.
Todd Shepherd is Broad + Liberty’s chief investigative reporter. Send him tips at [email protected], or use his encrypted email at [email protected]. @shepherdreports
