Whistleblower Lawsuits Cost CSU $9M
HAYWARD, Calif. — California State University paid $9 million to settle and defend seven cases against whistle-blowers since 2008. The case of a part-time lecturer who was fired after reporting the misuse of school funds by a colleague will go to trial this summer.
Justin Schwartz, a former lecturer at Cal State East Bay, was fired after he reported that a colleague was using school funds to purchase thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment for personal use, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. His accused colleague, Mike Shumate, has admitted to double billing the school, but said that he “didn’t do anything wrong.”
An investigation found 26 questionable payouts to Shumate between July 2002 and December 2008. Schwartz claimed Shumate kept a secret storage locker of personal equipment, charged the campus for two sailboats and used school funds to work out at a climbing gym.
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