In April 2014, Stacey Kalberman, the former State Ethics Commission Director, won a $1 million total judgment in the whistleblower lawsuit she filed for being forced out of her job after investigating Nathan Deal’s 2010 campaign finances. Allegedly, Deal’s campaign paid $322,000 to companies that he or his associates owned or had an interest in. Specifically, the commission was investigating suspicious transactions such as:
- A $90,000 payment to Southern Magnolia Capital, LLC, a fundraising company owned by Nathan Deal’s daughter-in-law Denise Deal. The company has no website or phone number listed.
- A $6,000 payment to Creekside Consulting, owned by Richard Riley, Chief-of-Staff Chris Riley’s father. Deal’s campaign is Creekside’s only listed client.
- A $135,000 payment for flights to North Georgia Aviation, a company co-owned by Deal.
Kalberman and former Ethics Commission Deputy Director Sherry Streicker planned to serve subpoenas in the case against Gov. Deal, but before they could, Kalberman was forced from her position with a 30 percent salary cut and Streicker’s job was cut altogether.
As the probe into his campaign finances was heating up, Gov. Deal’s team handpicked Kalberman’s replacement, appointing Holly LaBerge as the commission director. Two former high-ranking members of the Ethics Commission testified that LaBerge boasted that she“made the governor’s legal problems go away”and bragged that Gov. Deal “owes her.” Gov. Deal was later cleared of major ethics violations and his proposed fine of $70,000 was reduced to $3,350. LaBerge received a 17 percent pay raise.
Based on the evidence and sworn testimony given, the jury in Kalberman’s recent case swiftly determined that she was, in fact, wrongfully fired because she had probed into ethics violations related to Deal’s 2010 campaign. The jury awarded Kalberman $700,000 in damages and $300,000 in legal fees--payable by Georgia taxpayers.
