Rhode Island city worker busted using secret bedroom in city building

March 6 (UPI) -- A Rhode Island city employee was disciplined after a photo of a makeshift bedroom set up in a city building circulated on social media.

Officials confirmed the photo of a bed with a nightstand, coffee maker, and a pair of slippers was taken on the second floor of the Cranston Highway Department building.

Robert Coupe, Cranston's director of administration, told WPRI-TV the makeshift bedroom had been removed from the "working garage" on the second floor of the building and the employee responsible had been disciplined.

"We were made aware of an incident that I believe existed for a very short period of time and it's not happening anymore," Coupe said. "A city employee has been disciplined and has been told it's unacceptable to be sleeping in the highway garage."

The employee, who declined to comment on the situation, reportedly closed on a home he was selling Feb. 24, indicating the bedroom was likely only ever meant to be a temporary measure.

Coupe declined to say what sort of discipline the employee faced after sleeping at the job -- a different sort of offense than the sleeping on the job that led a former North Carolina Department of Transportation worker to file a complaint with the state.

Elsie Hinton's complaint said she was fired from her position as an artist in the department's communications office after she was caught sleeping at work for a fifth time. She alleged a medical condition was causing her unplanned naps.