The Chief Financial Officer of the St Joseph School District has filed a lawsuit against the district, claiming he was placed on leave for blowing the whistle on the district’s stipend mess.
The lawsuit was delivered by messenger to the civil clerk in the Buchanan County Courthouse Tuesday .
CFO Beau Musser claims in court documents he was placed on administrative leave during a meeting in March in which he was offered nearly $40,000 to quit his job and stop snooping into the stipends.
The lawsuit names as defendants the school district, Superintendent Dr. Fred Czerwonka, Human Resources Director Doug Flowers, and board member Dennis Snethen, a longtime family friend of Musser’s. It accuses the defendants of wrongful termination, breach of contract and slander/defamation of character.
He claims in court documents he was placed on leave for blowing the whistle on the district’s practice of awarding stipends to administrators without school board approval.
In January, Musser alerted two school board members of his concerns, after Dr. Czerwonka and then-School Board President Dr. Dan Colgan refused to bring the newest stipends to the attention of the full board. One of those board members Musser alerted was Mr Snethen. The other was former board member Sarah Siemens.
According to the lawsuit, Musser was called into a meeting on March 28 with Dr. Czerwonka and Human Resources Director Flowers. Musser asserts in court documents that he was informed by Dr. Czerwonka he was being placed on administrative leave based on false claims of sexual harassment.
Czerwonka offered Musser a separation agreement that included a payment, reportedly more than $39,000, which represented the remainder of the term of his contract. They also offered to drop the allegations of sexual harassment in exchange for his resignation. According to the lawsuit, Czerwonka and Flowers manufactured the allegations of sexual harassment, in retaliation for his reporting of their illegal raises to family members, friends and other staff.
Board member Snethen, along with the other individuals, is accused of defamation of character. According to the lawsuit, all three falsely told members of the board, employees of the district, and citizens of St Joseph that Mr Musser committed acts constituting sexual harassment. They are also accused of making numerous false statements and allegations about Mr Musser’s character and his motivation for whistle blowing.
The lawsuit complains that all four defendants are “conspiring to sully Mr Musser’s name because he dared to protest and report their illegal activities, which cost the district in excess of $375,000.”
The FBI is investigating the stipends, and other issues within the district. A federal grand jury subpoena was delivered last week seeking personnel records and other district documents.
An outside lawyer hired by the district insists that the FBI has no jurisdiction, and that this situation is a matter for local and state authorities.