College reaches $135,000 settlement with former VP
John Glidden, Staff Writer
May 9, 2012
Filed under Administration, Investigative, News
The Solano Community College governing board, during its May 2 meeting, announced that the district had reached a settlement with Carey Roth, former vice-president of administrative and business services at Solano College.
Rosemary Thurston, governing board president, announced that Roth will receive a total of $135,000. The Solano district will have to pay $45,000 with the remaining balance being paid by insurance.
“The Solano Community College District is part of SWACC (Statewide Association of Community Colleges)” said Eugene B. Elliot, counsel representing the Solano College District, in an email to The Tempest.
According to the SWACC website, “[SWACC] was formed for the purposes of providing the services and other items necessary and appropriate for the establishment, operation and maintenance of a joint program for liability and property damage claims against public agencies.”
In addition to the monetary payment, the district will provide a letter of recommendation for Roth.
“Mr. Roth has requested a letter setting forth the dates of his employment with the District and a statement setting forth his job duties,” said Elliot in the same email.
Leo Donahue, Roth’s legal counsel for the case, declined to comment.
“Plaintiff (Roth) disclosed that he believed the Defendant (Solano College) was willfully misrepresenting official government fiscal documents to present Solano in a false light in order to make it appear that SCCD met the California Community College Chancellor requirement that SCCD have a minimum reserve balance of five percent of operating expenses for unrestricted funds,” Roth’s complaint alleges.
The suit also states that the failure of SCCD to maintain this reserve balance would result in the Chancellor of the California Community College system declaring Solano fiscally insolvent; which would lead the Chancellor to take over the Solano District and then merge Solano with a nearby community college district.
“After being praised for his [Roth’s] job performance, having saved the SCCD $6 [million when Roth] disclosed to his superiors that this information must be addressed, [Roth] was quickly and summarily fired (released from probation),” Roth’s suit alleges.
“A final dismissal has not yet been entered in this case. Further comment by the District regarding this matter would thus not be appropriate at this time,” said Elliot in the email to The Tempest.
The governing board, in closed session, voted 5-0 to accept the terms between Roth and the district. Trustees McCaffrey and Honeychurch were not in attendance at the meeting.
Roth worked at Solano College from Dec. 2009 to June 2010.
Read the entire lawsuit here.
