Southern Arizona lawsuits

Foster care group in court over whistleblower suit

TUCSON — A former caseworker for a local nonprofit claims she was wrongfully terminated after sounding the alarm that child abuse may have occurred at one of the agency’s foster care homes.

Traci Costanzo is suing the Devereux Foundation in Pima County Superior Court for allegedly letting her go following discussions she had with state authorities that may have embarrassed the agency.

The Devereux Foundation is a 96-year-old nonprofit based in Pennsylvania that took in almost $350,000 in revenues last year, according to federal tax records.

In her seven-page complaint, Costanzo says she worked for the agency for almost nine years. During that time, she did not have any negative feedback from her supervisors.

In July 2007, Costanzo took a three-week vacation. When she returned, she visited one of the foster homes that the agency used.

“During that visit,” the complaint claims, “[Costanzo] learned that there were allegations of abuse perpetrated on two of the children in the Devereaux contract home. [Costanzo{ further learned that the [state] Child Protective Services was not informed as to the allegations of abuse that occured in the Devereux home.”

Costanzo claims she did her due diligence next by reporting the incident to her supervisor, who had been monitoring the home in her absence. She claims she repeatedly took her claims that Devereux mishandled the case to the top, asking the agency’s brass to file the report with CPS.

On Oct. 1, 2007, she was terminated effective immediately due to “reorganzation of the department,” the complaint states.

Now she is seeking punitive and compensatory damages from the Devereux Foundation. Tucson lawyer Charles R. Hamm is representing Costanzo.

Arrest snafu lands UofA police in court

TUCSON — A local mom is waging a legal war against University of Arizona, claiming the university torpedoed her career as a federal employee by accusing her of using her security clearance to look into the details of her son’s arrest.

The 10-page complaint in Pima County Superior Court comes from Janet Hopkins, a former investigator for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management who did deep security background checks on federal workers to see if they posed a national security threat.

In other words, Hopkins had high-level access to all kinds of records. The question in this case is whether she abused it or simply followed the rules the general public faces for getting arrest records.

Either way, the case promises to be an embarrassment for the federal government or police at the state’s second-largest university.

In September 2007, Hopkins’ son, Moses, a student at UofA, was arrested by university police. At the time, she was working for the federal government, and went to police headquarters to research a new applicant in the course of her job as a background screener.

While she was the there, Hopkins requested information on her son’s arrest. She filed a public-records request to obtain the records, according to the complaint. A clerk told her that her son’s case was still pending, so Hopkins came back the following week.

The complaint states that she showed up with her wallet but without any credentials afforded to her job. When a clerk told her the case was still open, Hopkins asked to speak to the detective in charge of the case, Martin Ramirez.

Hopkins claims Ramirez started asking probing questions about her husband’s date of birth and middle initial. She declined to answer, accusing the detective and the police department of discriminating against her son and her family instead. The Hopkins family is African American.

The resulting fight pits the detective’s word against that of Hopkins. The police say she has abused her position and government credentials to obtain arrest records, while Hopkins says police falsified documents to prove their case and issued slanderous comments that cost her her job in January.

Tucson lawyers Don Awerkamp and Ivelisse Bonilla are representing Hopkins.

Major prison lands in court over discrimination claim

FLORENCE — A former prison guard for one of the largest private prisons in the Southwest is suing his employer for wrongful termination following a fight with an inmate.

Robert McDonald joins other recent plaintiffs who have filed workplace discrimination complaints against Corrections Corporation of America, a Maryland-based company that operates prison facilities in Eloy, Florence and elsewhere under contracts with local and federal agencies.

In his complaint, McDonald states that the company hired him in July 2006. At the time, he notified company officials that he had a disability. The complaint does not disclose any details about his condition.

In November 2006, McDonald claims his supervisor told him that he was a “security threat” because of his disability, the complaint says.

In June 2007, McDonald claims he filed a formal grievance with the company over discriminatory treatment he allegedly received due to absences.

On July 2, 2007, McDonald was assaulted by an inmate while he was on-duty, the complaint states. Two days later, the company terminated him without notice based on a policy violation that arose during the scuffle, according to the complaint.

But the real reason, McDonald claims, was because he was disabled. Other employees who faced similar circumstances and were not disabled were not fired, he claims.

As a result, McDonald filed charges against the company with the Arizona Civil Rights Division in September 2007. The office investigated the matter and found that he had the right to sue.

McDonald claims the company violated his Civil Rights and defamed him by giving two prospective employers, the Gila River Indian Community and the state Department of Corrections, negative information about him during the application process.

Tempe lawyer Tamra Facciola is representing McDonald in Pinal County Superior Court.

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