A Kennesaw State University worker is suing the school for $1.5 million for claims that she is still being harassed for coming forward about ethics violations by leadership during the past year.
Tracy Nunn, who was an administrative assistant to the school's executive director of culinary services, filed the lawsuit Monday in the Superior Court of Fulton County as a violation of the Georgia Whistleblower Protection Act.
This is the latest ripple of state audits that led to the firings of four high-level school employees and the abrupt resignation of its decade-long president Dan Papp a month before word broke he'd violated several policies of the University System of Georgia.
Former KSU president Dan Papp participates in commencement ceremonies. He later resigned from his position just before an investigation showed he violated several state university policies.
"From the moment Ms. Nunn blew the whistle on the criminal activity she observed firsthand, her reputation has been slandered and she has suffered adverse work conditions and retaliatory isolation that has been intentional and fiercely imposed on Ms. Nunn by her supervisors, coworkers and the interim director of the department for which she works," the lawsuit reads.
When asked for a response to news of the lawsuit, KSU Spokeswoman Tammy DeMel said: "The University does not comment on pending litigation."
The lawsuit alleges that her direct supervisor Gary Coltek, director of culinary services, listed Nunn as registered agent for a company, which she didn't know until a TV reporter emailed her with questions in September 2015.
As it turns out, that company was being used to funnel money from dining vendors trying to gain favor with Coltek, so Coltek registered Nunn to keep his name off the paperwork and make it harder to trace the money back to him, said Nunn's attorney.
And when Nunn confronted Coltek about that, her boss didn't deny he'd done so without telling her, the lawsuit said.
Coltek later resigned.
[ MORE: Auditors uncover more policy violations by Kennesaw State officials ]
The school tried to have Nunn's yearly evaluation done by Randall Shelton, head of the Auxiliary Services and Programs, who is one of the people Nunn was blowing the whistle on.
Nunn said she didn't feel comfortable with Shelton doing her evaluation, so she wasn't reviewed. That means Nunn wasn't evaluated the year she reported wrongdoings that were later found by state investigators to be true and led to widespread firings of top school staff.
One specific audit about his department called out Shelton for nepotism, interfering with vendor bids and consulting for one of the school's current vendors and traveled to conferences for that vendor on the school's dime. Shelton later resigned.
The lawsuit says Nunn coming forward along with the fact that she wasn't reviewed are "characteristically retaliatory in nature and are the result of a coordinated and concerted effort on behalf of the administrator and directors of Kennesaw State University to make Ms. Nunn uncomfortable while at work and to effectively destroy Ms. Nunn's career."
Nunn now "works in a closet" and is stripped of most responsibilities, said Michael Puglise, the Snellville attorney representing her.
Puglise told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in June he'd be filing a lawsuit.
The lawsuit said the administration singled out Nunn, who started at KSU in November 2012, but stopped short of firing her because high-ranking staff knew termination would only bring more attention to the situation.
"It took one lonely person with no resources," Puglise said. "It’s a David and Goliath story."
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