Ousted state ethics commission director Holly LaBerge has appealed a judge’s decision to fine her $10,000.
LaBerge's personal attorney, Lee Parks, filed the notice of appeal with Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville on Monday, hours after the commission voted unanimously to fire her.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Sam Olens’ office, which Glanville also fined $10,000, has taken a different route. It has requested a “certificate of immediate appeal” from Glanville, a legal maneuver that basically seeks the judge’s permission to also challenge his ruling to the Court of Appeals.
Requesting the certificate does not mean Olens has decided to appeal, but, if Glanville grants it, would allow the challenge to move forward.
A spokeswoman for Olens said no decision to appeal has been made.
The difference in approach between Parks and Olens would appear to be a matter of legal semantics and a disagreement over how the parties may proceed under state law.
The sanctions came after attorneys for former ethics commission director Stacey Kalberman accused LaBerge and the Attorney General's Office of failing to turn over key documents in Kalberman's whistleblower lawsuit that showed top aides to Gov. Nathan Deal called and texted LaBerge in the days before the commission considered complaints against Deal. LaBerge wrote in a memo that she felt pressured by those contacts and that the agency had been threatened.
The commission, formally known as the Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, dismissed major complaints against Deal a week later, although he agreed to pay $3,350 in fees for defects in campaign reports.
A Fulton County jury awarded Kalberman $700,000 in damages plus $450,000 in back pay and attorneys fees.
In his notice of appeal, Parks argued that LaBerge was originally sued by Kalberman as the ethics commission director, not as an individual, but Glanville sanctioned her personally, which would mean LaBerge would have to pay the $10,000 herself.
In his order, Glanville wrote that LaBerge had been “dishonest and non-transparent” over the course of Kalberman’s suit. Ethics commission Chairwoman Hillary Stringfelow cited Glanville’s order as reason for LaBerge’s dismissal.
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