number of overtime-hours to be allotted among crime lab employees on a voluntary basis. Plaintiff *258 regularly requested, and was afforded, overtime-hours.
On January 6, 1999, Lieutenant John Echols ("Echols"), a Philadelphia police officer assigned to the Internal Affairs Unit, received an anonymous letter alleging that the plaintiff was unlawfully receiving overtime pay. Specifically, the letter alleged that on a number of occasions when the plaintiff was scheduled for and earning overtime, she was not present in the crime lab, but instead, was either at her home or working at a second job as an aerobics instructor at Saint Agnes Hospital's Wellness Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (the "hospital"). The letter further alleged that in 1998, plaintiff was scheduled and paid for having worked overtime on ninety-five (95) days ofthat year, but that on forty-five (45) of those days, the plaintiff taught aerobics at the hospital during the same hours for which she had collected overtime from the department.
After receiving the letter, Lt. Echols commenced an investigation into the allegations contained therein. As part of the investigation, Lt. Echols contacted the hospital and confirmed plaintiffs employment there. Lt. Echols also compared the hospital's employment records with the records of the police department. Through this comparison, Lt. Echols uncovered that between January 7, 1998 and March 24, 1999, there were fifty-three (53) occasions in which plaintiff was signed-in at the hospital (to teach aerobics) while, at the same time, being scheduled and paid for working overtime with the police department.
The investigation continued and on February 2 and 3,