Lawsuit: Balderas fired six workers out of retaliation

“New Mexicans elected Hector Balderas to transform the Office of the Attorney General and strongly enforce the rule of law to protect New Mexico children and families, root out corruption, and protect our environment,” Hallinan said.

The lawsuit, filed in state District Court last week, follows an unsuccessful attempt by workers fired by Balderas to have their dismissals reversed by the state Personnel Board. The board ruled employees in the Attorney General’s Office serve at the pleasure of the AG. Eighteen former employees are appealing that decision in a second case in District Court.

The legal wrangling comes at a time when Balderas is being mentioned as a possible Democratic candidate for governor in 2018.

The lawsuit by the six former employees alleges, among other things, that James Grayson, a lawyer who was among those fired from the Attorney General’s Office, was dismissed in retaliation for clashing with Balderas while Balderas was state auditor.

As part of a criminal investigation, the Attorney General’s Office, then under Gary King, issued a grand jury subpoena in 2009 for the Auditor’s Office, then under Balderas, to supply documents.

Balderas’ office refused to comply, leading to closed-door hearings in state District Court, then the state Appeals Court. Grayson represented King’s office before the Appeals Court.

Balderas and King resolved the legal dispute in 2011 but exactly how and why has never been disclosed because the case is sealed. The Auditor’s Office had described the accusations leading to the criminal investigation as frivolous.

After being elected attorney general, Balderas dismissed Grayson and the only two other employees in the Attorney General’s Office who were involved in the dispute between King and Balderas, according to the lawsuit.

Grayson wrote in the lawsuit that he had worked for the Attorney General’s Office since 2005, did not have any disciplinary problems and had been described by a supervisor as “one of the best appellate attorneys.” He said Balderas, without interviewing him, sent him an email a couple weeks before taking office informing Grayson that he was being terminated. Balderas did not give a reason for firing him, Grayson wrote.

Balderas fired about 40 employees.

Another former staff attorney alleges in the lawsuit that she reported misconduct by a supervisor before Balderas fired her. Another fired attorney alleges she was terminated shortly after taking medical leave.

Three more former staffers — an evidence custodian, paralegal and an executive assistant — have joined the lawsuit. Some allege they were replaced by less qualified staff.

The former evidence custodian, Joyce Solisz, claimed, “The state of evidence protection and knowledge of evidentiary integrity was so poor in the new administration that [Balderas] and the [Attorney General’s Office] had to call on [her] after she had been terminated to open the evidence vault and explain procedures to executive staff members.”

Each ex-employee in the case also argues Balderas did not have the right to fire them without reason.

About 20 fired staffers made a similar argument to the state Personnel Board when they appealed their terminations in 2015. The board rejected their appeal, pointing to a state statute that says the attorney general’s staff serves at his pleasure, allowing him to hire and fire as he sees fit.

But the six employees suing Balderas argue they and other laid-off staffers were not “at will” employees because they had completed a six-month probationary period when hired by the Attorney General’s Office.

The Santa Fe New Mexican is a sister-paper of The Taos News. Contact Andrew Oxford at 505-986-3093 or aoxford@sfnewmexican.com. Follow him on Twitter @andrewboxford.