California Courts to Whistleblower: 'You're Out of Order!'

Accountable California, a project of SEIU Local 721's Center for Public Accountability, has posted a story about Michael Paul, an employee of the California Administrative Office of the Courts. Paul thought he saw misconduct occurring on multimillion dollar contracts and reported it to his superiors. In return, he was “effectively” demoted to a job working under the same people on whom he blew the whistle. 

The California court system is the largest in the nation, with more than 2,000 judicial officers, 19,000 court employees, and hundreds of courthouses. Paul alleges that private vendors who provide maintenance services at the courthouses were operating without the required licenses and were overcharging for services. When he reported his concerns to superiors, however, he claims he was reassigned to "an irrelevant position with nothing to do" that reports to "the same guys I blew the whistle on."

POGO is highlighting Michael Paul’s case not only because of the whistleblower retaliation element, but also because one of the vendors involved is a subsidiary of Jacobs Engineering Group, a company featured in our Federal Contractor Misconduct Database. A quick glance at the database reveals that Jacobs only has two misconduct instances, both of which are almost a decade old. Both also happen to involve government contract fraud. Paul claims Jacobs was paid $20,000 for a building maintenance study it plagiarized from an old U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study and that it overcharged the state on many projects. 

The Administrative Office of the Courts acted on Paul's information and has sued several of the vendors for not having licenses but has not yet acted on any of his more serious fraud allegations. The lawsuit alleges Jacobs had the required contractor's license when it began work in 2006 but let it lapse a year ago. The lawsuit seeks repayment of all state funds. 

The latest information about Michael Paul’s situation and the state’s lawsuits against the courthouse vendors can be found on this blog. 

-- Neil Gordon

Comments

[Pete]

Paul, I understand what your going through. Could a please get a copy of your original complaint, as I am bringing a public records act litigation against the Calif Administrative Office of the Courts. Thanks Pete

[Michael Paul]

On June 7th, 2010 I filed a taxpayer lawsuit against my employer, the Administrative Office of the Courts and seven unlicensed contractors.

Peter Krause of the California Attorney Generals' office was the first to receive a copy of this suit on July 7th and indicated to my attorneys that he forwarded the action to the AOC. Less than 48 hours later I was put on administrative leave for 24 hours and fired.