Atlanta's former treasurer has filed a whistle-blower lawsuit against the city, alleging that he was fired in mid-October, after only seven months on the job, when he refused to make unethical and possibly illegal transfers of cash between various city accounts.
Edward Tuohy, a resident of Cobb County, seeks back pay, front pay, reinstatement, attorney's fees and compensatory and punitive damages.
Tuohy was recruited to the city job in early 2011 from a financial company in Alpharetta. His lawsuit, filed this week in Fulton County Superior Court, alleges that his new bosses -- Joya De Foor, then the city's chief financial officer, and Stefan Jaskulak, her deputy -- almost immediately began pressuring him to circumvent the city's financial guidelines, book invoices without proper approval and charge accounts that should not have been charged.
De Foor and Jaskulak did not respond to requests for comment.
"We believe the allegations have no merit, and we will vigorously defend the lawsuit," Deputy City Attorney Eric Richardson said in a statement.
Tuohy said he complied at first because he wasn't sure if the requests were improper or "just the way the city did it," according to the lawsuit.
But Tuohy's lawsuit indicates that he started pushing back later in 2011, after receiving numerous requests to wire money without proper supporting documents.
In September, he was instructed to wire $20 million for the purchase of airport land two days prior to the deal closing. He said De Foor later told him to charge the city's Department of Watershed Management $50,000 for work done by a Los Angeles firm but not to tell the chief financial officer of the watershed department.
Tuohy said he refused to do so, because the California firm also had done work for the city's Department of Aviation and he believed it would be against the city's rules to charge the watershed department for the entire amount.
Tuohy said he asked for advice from John Gaffney, the city's controller. Gaffney told him that De Foor's instructions were a violation of the city's accounting rules and regulations and that he should take up the matter with his supervisor or with the city's ethics commission.
In early October, Tuohy told Jaskulak that neither he nor his staff would book the wire transfers as De Foor had requested because of the possible rules violations.
On Oct. 12, Jaskulak fired Tuohy, according to the lawsuit.
The next day, Tuohy protested to Yvonne Cowser Yancy, the city's human resources commissioner, and Katrina Taylor Parks, deputy chief of staff to Mayor Kasim Reed, according to the lawsuit. In the course of the 105-minute meeting, Tuohy argued he had been fired in retaliation and asked to be reinstated. He was informed that he had been fired for "performance reasons," according to the lawsuit.
Tuohy's lawyer, Gary Kessler, says the city has not responded fully to open records requests for Tuohy's personnel files since that meeting.
De Foor is no longer employed by the city. She abruptly vacated her job as the city's chief financial officer the week of Oct. 16. Top city officials said at the time they could not comment on her departure, including whether she had resigned or been fired.
Jaskulak is still the city's deputy chief financial officer.
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