Price of a blown whistle: Sacramento attorney endured hardship after calling out ‘worst run’ state agency

Seven years ago, Kathy Carroll watched her boss lie.

On August 6, 2009, Carroll was working as an attorney for the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. The CTC decides whether teachers who have been accused of crimes should have their credentials revoked. At the time, Carroll knew of more than 10,000 complaints that hadn’t been investigated. But her supervisor, Mary Armstrong, told the commission that there was “little” backlog at any given time, according to a trial brief provided by Carroll’s attorney, Dan Siegel.

In December 2009, Carroll blew the whistle on the CTC—and was later fired.

As she fought her termination in a Sacramento County courtroom, her attorney says Carroll spent the next several years battling poverty and joblessness. On August 10, Carroll won a $3.1 million civil judgment. But her fight isn’t over. And her story—recreated from the trial brief, a state audit and interview with Siegel—hints at why more people don’t come forward when they witness wrongdoing.

Carroll feared for the safety of students in California’s public schools. Backlogged cases detailed teachers who had been accused of kidnapping and rape, kissing students, exposing them to pornography and forwarding them white supremacy propaganda. Months or years could pass before cases were resolved. And some teachers went to other schools after being fired because the state never revoked their credentials.

In January 2010, the trial brief states, Carroll alerted CTC Director Dale Janssen of her concerns. Janssen then paid private investigator Elizabeth Ison $24,000 to investigate Carroll’s claims. Ison discredited Carroll and concluded Armstrong hadn’t lied. So Carroll sent her report to then-state Sen. Darrell Steinberg, who requested a formal audit of the CTC.

Carroll’s attorney later argued successfully in court that the decision led to her eventual termination.

During the state’s audit, the CTC’s Janssen, Armstrong and Assistant General Counsel Lee Pope planned to lay Carroll off, using economic reasons to justify the decision, according to the trial brief. But that move raised red flags as a one-person-layoff had never happened and would do little to address their supposed financial troubles.

In September 2010, Carroll declined to attend a CTC meeting with Armstrong, fearing that she would be asked to lie. Later that month, she was denied a merit-based raise and placed on administrative leave, despite having no serious written discipline in her file, the trial brief argued. Steinberg petitioned Janssen to delay these actions until the audit concluded. Janssen declined.

Pope then launched his own investigation into Carroll. In addition to minor complaints about her attitude, he alleged that she had sexually harassed CTC committee member Barbara Kilponen. Janssen fired Carroll on November 29, 2010, based on Pope’s accusations.

But at trial, Siegel said Pope’s central claim wilted under scrutiny. “[Kilponen] had some disagreements with the plaintiff, but there was nothing sexual,” Siegel noted. “The plaintiff didn’t come onto her. Didn’t romance her. Didn’t touch her. Didn’t kiss her. Didn’t [do] anything. So it just showed to the jury that all of these explanations they came up with to try to justify her firing were, frankly, bullshit.”

In April 2011, the Bureau of State Audits confirmed all of Carroll’s allegations. State Auditor Elaine Howle called the CTC one of the “worst-run” state agencies she’d ever investigated. Shortly after, Janssen, Armstrong and Pope resigned.

CTC spokesman Joshua Speaks claimed that the backlog occurred mostly due to furloughs and hiring freezes caused by the recession. Compounding this, the cases had been kept on paper, meaning many got lost, misplaced or forgotten.

After the blistering audit, the CTC digitized its documents, formalized fair hiring procedures and doubled the number of cases it reviews and resolves. In 2014, a follow-up audit declared a near-complete turnaround. The CTC will appeal the $3.1 million verdict, claiming it had justification for Carroll’s termination.

While Siegel said he was “thrilled” with the outcome, he feared it might obscure how Carroll suffered for her whistleblowing.

“She lived in poverty for six years,” he said. “She hasn’t been able to find a job. She can’t pay her heating bill for her house. She’s got a car sitting in her driveway that she hasn’t driven for a couple years because she can’t afford the insurance.”

Now the mayor-elect of Sacramento, Steinberg stressed the importance of protecting whistleblowers like Carroll, saying legislators rely on them to uncover situations hidden to the public. And he sympathized with the losses that accompanied her victory. “Sometimes, the amount of the verdict is impressive,” he said. “But it doesn’t speak to what the person went through.”