Duncan is the former chief investigator in the Cabinet's Office of Inspector General. The State Personnel Board has ordered the cabinet to give Duncan his job back, with back pay, because he was fired for political reasons. But the Transportation Cabinet asked Franklin Circuit Judge Tommy Wingate to delay enforcement of the Personnel Board's order. Cabinet attornies claim the board's hearing officer wasn't impartial and Duncan's hiring may have been illegal. They wanted to "stay" his return to the cabinet until those issues were cleared up. But Judge Wingate refused, saying Duncan should get his job back right now. He didn't, however, order the cabinet to hand Duncan a check for his back pay just yet.

Earlier this week, the State Personnel Board voted to investigate Fletcher administration allegations that Duncan may have been improperly hired by his former boss, Inspector General David Ray. Yesterday, in response to questions from WHAS 11 News, Attorney General Greg Stumbo said his office is sending a letter to the Board and Transportation Cabinet, telling them that Ray was been designated a "state government whistleblower in connection with the merit hiring criminal investigation. That means Ray is protected from retaliation for providing testimony that may have been the deciding factor in Duncan's successful job appeal involving the Transportation Cabinet. But Stumbo says that whistleblower protection would not extend to Ray if he did something wrong in the hiring of Duncan.