Court in Washington awards $555,000 to health official in firing
|
Version 0 of 1. A federal jury Friday found that a top D.C. government official who was fired in 2012 over allegations of attempting to rig bids related to the city’s $80 million health-insurance exchange was in fact treated unfairly by top aides to then-Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D). Jennifer B. Campbell, former chief operating officer of the D.C. Department of Health Care Finance, was awarded $555,000 in back pay and damages after a four-day trial before U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras. Campbell alleged that Gray cabinet member and DHCF Director Wayne M. Turnage violated her due-process rights by never questioning her before he and the chief of staff and the spokesman for the mayor disclosed her case to reporters, harming her ability to find a new job. After the verdict, Campbell, who said the stigma of news reports kept her from finding comparable work for two years, said, “I feel as though I finally have been able to voice the truth and be heard.” Campbell said that she was collateral damage in disputes between rival vendors and between loyalists to Gray and now-Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D). The jury decision was vindication for Campbell, 42, and the latest mark against a District agency that oversees billions in federal and local funding and has figured in a several scandals involving corruption, fraud and waste. Just before her firing, Campbell said in her lawsuit, she had objected to a provision of the costly contract to implement the exchange, a cost that ultimately had to be covered by a first-in-the-nation, 1 percent tax levied by the D.C. Council last year on all health-insurance plans. Campbell’s attorney, Alan Lescht, accused Gray’s then-chief of staff, Christopher K. Murphy, spokesman Pedro Ribeiro and Turnage of carrying out “a Wilson Building special — when the mayor’s office makes itself look good at someone else’s expense.” (The mayor and the D.C. Council are based in the John A. Wilson Building.) At trial, Assistant D.C. Attorney General Sarah L. Knapp said city officials discussed only factual allegations about Campbell’s dismissal in response to queries by the Washington City Paper and later The Washington Post. Turnage had conducted a good-faith investigation that undermined his confidence in Campbell, who served at the will of the mayor, Knapp said. Turnage testified that he was concerned enough after looking into two specific allegations to refer the matter to the D.C. inspector general. “There is simply no evidence anyone in D.C. government contacted the media [first] or disclosed anything other than strictly truthful information about circumstances” of Campbell’s firing, Knapp said. Turnage, who remains the DHCF director, testified that his decision was influenced by a rash of scandals in 2011 and 2012 involving Gray personnel, campaign finance and procurements linked to the agency. The controversies extended to the agency’s biggest contractor, businessman Jeffrey Thompson. “The last thing the administration needed was another contracting scandal they couldn’t get in front of and handle,” Turnage said. “I took all those things into consideration.” Campbell was dismissed in June 2012 after four years at the DHCF. News accounts — citing Turnage’s emails to Murphy — reported that Campbell was fired over allegations that she was trying to steer parts of contracts to minority vendors, including some with political connections. The latter allegedly included DigiDoc, also known as Document Managers, owned by businessman Darryl Wiggins, campaign chairman for Bowser, who at the time was the D.C. Council member for Ward 4. [D.C. official is fired over contract allegations] Turnage also cited allegations that Campbell had tried to steer business to a friend. Campbell and Wiggins denied the charges in court, and Campbell said at trial that she was victimized by a friend who also was a vendor and sought to profit by exploiting her name. |