By Bob Walsh
Regular readers will know I have written every now and again about the fiscal debacle which threatens to bankrupt the Stockton Unified School District and send in into receivership. Part of that debacle appears strongly to be composed of outright criminality.
Armando Orozco used to be the facilities director. More than a little of the financial irregularities happened within his department. He has just filed a civil complaint against his former employer alleging the district dumped on him because he refused to play along with the financial shenanigans taking place.
The 24-page complaint filed in San Joaquin County Superior Court alleges whistleblower retaliation, disability discrimination, failure to prevent harassment, failure to accommodate and wrongful termination in violation of public policy. The district has denied all allegations.
Two days after he began his job back in 2021 he became involved in a bidding process for air filters for the schools. The bidding process appeared to be a homeboy operation and seemed to be operating in violation of a lot of operational rules and even various provisions of law. When Orozco pointed out these issues to his new boss, Marcus Battle, he was allegedly order to butt out.
Among other things a district employee went to Orozco's personal residence, allegedly to search for a missing and possibly stolen storage container. That employee admitted to using her husband, who has a law-enforcement affiliation, to illegally obtain Orozco's residence address.
Orozco was said to have approached the district and requested $800,000 to go away quietly. He is asking for damages of $35,000 in his current legal action.
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