The state ethics commission on Friday unanimously voted to cancel Robert Constantine’s deal with the agency just a month-and-a-half into a planned four-month stint.
The commission, formally known as the Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, had agreed in December to hire the former workers compensation judge to help guide the agency out of its “legal morass,” as one commissioner said.
Instead, after meeting in executive session Friday, the board decided it wasn’t working out.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has reported that Constantine was fired by the State Board of Workers Compensation for failing to meet performance expectations. More recently, documents obtained by the AJC through an open records request revealed performance reviews that said he “lacks a basic ‘awareness’ of what he is doing” and “has not demonstrated the ability to handle complex legal issues.”
The ethics commission is embroiled in a pair of whistleblower lawsuits filed by its former director and her top deputy. Both claim they were forced out after investigating Gov. Nathan Deal’s 2010 campaign. The suits have prompted testimony from current and former employees that current director Holly LaBerge ordered changes in the Deal case file and bragged that she helped make the governor’s problems go away.
LaBerge has said that’s not true and the commission voted in 2012 to dismiss major charges against Deal, who instead paid $3,350 in administrative fees.
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