A 27-page complaint filed by a whistleblower inside the Milwaukee City Attorney's Office claims that attorneys who manage the office and staff assignments lack any knowledge of the law and proper procedures in filing court documents in response to liability court cases involving police officers.
By H. Nelson Goodson
Hispanic News Network U.S.A.
June 5, 2022
Milwaukee, Wisconsin - A 27-page complaint by a whistleblower inside the Milwaukee City Attorney's Office claims fraud, kickbacks, embezzlement, public taxpayer dollar waste and inept City Attorneys who don't know the law that they are practicing. The 27-page complaint dated May 6, 2022 was filed with City's Department of Employee Relations, Office of Waste, Fraud and Abuse, the Milwaukee Police Association, Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office State Ethics Board, State of Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation and the Department of Neighborhood Services.
Hispanic News Network U.S.A. (HNNUSA) received a copy of the complaint as well and it definitely exposes a hostile work environment at the Milwaukee City Attorney's Office.
The whistleblower wrote that City Attorney Tearman Spencer terminated both Attorneys Jennifer DeMaster and Nicolas Zales on February 28, 2022 for allegedly initiating an internal investigation complaint with the City Attorney. The whistleblower also says that the unethical, negligence, incompetent and possibly illegal conduct by the City Attorney's Office management that include Tearman, Litigation Deputy Yolanda McGowan and Chief of Staff Celia Jackson has definitely effected legal representation for Milwaukee police officers and the Department of Neighborhood Services.
McGowan is accused of using a paralegal to "teach or guide her on matters of federal litigation practice and basic employment practices". Also, a paralegal has had to "explain legal liability to Deputy Todd Farris" as well.
The whistleblower also claims that the incompetent City Attorney deputies have failed to properly defend police officers in civil rights liability cases and "might be intentional or by design" and that the continued mishandling of police cases could now extend to other departments that would have incompetent City Attorneys defending them in certain cases.
The whistleblower says that there have been instances of racial discrimination against Hispanic and Native American descent employees (staff) and some have been bypass from being promoted to certain positions, which less experienced African-Americans were promoted creating a toxic and hostile environment and instances of retaliation when complaining. For example, "McGowan ordering attorneys not to use or ask assistance from persons who has direct knowledge of cases", according to the complaint.
The 27-page complaint is very comprehensive and detailed exposing that the City Attorney's Office is very incompetent to represent the City, the Milwaukee Police Department and other City departments in litigation.
"The City is going to be bankrupt sooner rather than later because of them and we will have higher taxes, higher fees, less services, less safety, less basic needs being met like City streets in disrepair, water, some parks, garbage, recycling, street lights, signage, almost every thing is City, MPS, MFD, MPD, DNS, DND, water and sewage," the whistleblower told HNNUSA.
Update: Celia Jackson, the Chief of Staff (Special Deputy City Attorney) at the Milwaukee City Attorney's Office recently announced her resignation and her last day on the job would be on June 10, 2022. She was hired on June 21, 2021 and earned at least $49.9K per year, according to City's employee salary data records.
Also, the whistleblower resigned from the City Attorney's Office as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment