ATLANTA, Ga. — A Fulton County Superior Court judge ruled Monday that Gov. Nathan Deal does not have to testify in the whistleblower lawsuit involving the former director of the State Ethics Commission.
Former Director Stacy Kalberman is suing the Ethics Commission, claiming it tried to derail her investigation into ethics complaints surrounding Deal's 2010 gubernatorial campaign. In her lawsuit, Kalberman claims that when she prepared draft supboenas for Deal and others in his administration, she was told by commissioners that their office was enduring financial hardships and that her salary would be cut by 30 percent. She later resigned claiming she was forced out of her job.
"It is our belief that the commissioners, inside the walls of the commission, took actions against Ms. Kalberman to stop the Deal investigation from going forward," said Kalberman's attorney Kim Worth.
But Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville decided Kalberman hadn't done nearly enough to convince him Deal played any part in her employment status.
"Nothing in the record, save the Plaintiff's assertions, suggests that Governor Deal was involved in the decisions related to the Plaintiff's employment," Glanville wrote in his order quashing the supboena. "Certainly, Governor Deal cannot be expected to testify in every purported employment matter involving the State of Georgia, even those purportedly related to an investigation into his campaign."
Jury selection began late Monday afternoon. Testimony could begin as soon as Tuesday.
WSBTV
