Paid leave for IT officer

But DIA officials are mum, not even telling the man what the investigation is about.

A senior-level official at Denver International Airport has been placed on investigatory leave, but DIA isn’t revealing why. And the official also says he hasn’t been told the reason.

Chief information officer Robert Kastelitz was placed on paid leave starting Feb. 27, according to a notification letter obtained by The Denver Post. Kastelitz oversees information technology services and several related contracts at the airport.

DIA provided Kastelitz’s notification letter under an openrecords request. In response to The Post’s questions and further requests for public records, Stacey Stegman, DIA’s senior vice president of communications, declined to provide any details about the investigation.

That includes what it concerns, who is conducting it and whether it is an internal or external probe.

“To protect the integrity of the pending investigation, we are unable to provide any comment or details at this time,” DIA responded to several questions.

Reached by phone Thursday afternoon, Kastelitz said he has been given no detail about the investigation: “They never gave me a reason for this,” he said, and he did not know who was conducting the probe.

Kastelitz said he could not discuss the matter further because DIA’s notification letter included a “gag order.” That provision explicitly applies to communication with anyone in city government or with employees of city contractors.

The Feb. 27 letter informed Kastelitz that he was being placed on investigatory leave and noted requirements he must follow. But it did not specify the reason he was placed on leave. The letter was signed by Gisela Shanahan, DIA’s chief financial officer.

DIA has declined to comment further on Kastelitz’s job status.

Kastelitz’s main title is senior vice president for technologies. He returned to DIA in 2009 after a prior stint working at the airport earlier that decade; in between, he worked for the Nevada Supreme Court in an information technology-related position, according to his LinkedIn profile.

While he is on leave, Kastelitz will receive his $204,163 annual salary, Stegman said.