The Rochester, Minn., school district has agreed to pay $320,000 to its former finance director to settle a lawsuit in which she claimed former superintendent Romain Dallemand fired her for blowing the whistle on his questionable hiring and spending, including the purchase and alleged illegal storage of a $4,600 desk for his office.
The school board voted last week to approve the settlement, details of which were disclosed in documents on the district's website.
Cheryl Coryea, former director of business services for the district, filed suit in 2009, alleging wrongful discharge and violation of the state's whistleblower law.
She claimed that Dallemand, who is now superintendent of schools in Macon, Ga., had the glass-topped desk custom-made for his office but then, when the public found out, stored it off school property. She claimed he ignored her warning that it was illegal for him to keep public property off school grounds.
She also questioned what she said were his excessive charges for meals. She claimed that he illegally instructed his staff to delay hiring a wellness coordinator from a pool of qualified non-minority candidates until they could find a minority candidate.
According to court records, Dallemand fired her in January 2008, the day after she told the school board chairperson about the off-site storage of the desk.
The settlement prohibits the parties involved from disclosing its terms or making disparaging remarks about one another.
"All we can say is that an agreement has been reached, and neither side can comment," said Jennifer Pozanc, director of communications for the Rochester public schools.
