Whistleblower fights to keep state job
SPRINGFIELD -- A whistleblower accused of leaking a report about corruption in the Blagojevich administration is fighting for his job in a case that revives questions about why state inspectors keep their findings secret.
The Department of Human Services fired Matthew Magalis on Oct. 10 after concluding that he gave a newspaper reporter an investigative report about a co-worker doing political work in support of Gov. Rod Blagojevich on state time, according to documents reviewed by The Associated Press.
Magalis admitted taking a co-worker's key, unlocking a cabinet, opening an envelope marked "confidential" and retrieving the report, according to DHS charges used to fired Magalis. The agency claims Magalis then faxed it to the Chicago Tribune.
Magalis feared officials would keep the incident quiet and not take proper disciplinary action, said his lawyer Carl Draper, who is seeking a Civil Service Commission hearing in late November.
While refusing to discuss specific allegations, Draper said he'll ask the commission, which considers appeals by discharged state employees, to reinstate Magalis as a protected whistleblower who exposed "serious corruption."
The state's executive inspector general prepared the confidential report. State inspectors investigate alleged misconduct, but reveal their findings only to authorities of the agency involved.
The report showed that DHS employee Khalil Shalabi had organized a Blagojevich political fundraiser and operated his private businesses on state time, according to an October 2006 Tribune article. The newspaper did not say how it got the report and a spokesman had no comment Tuesday.
Some legislators and government watchdogs want the public to see inspectors' findings. That way, no one would feel a duty to call attention to misconduct by publicizing a confidential report.
"It shows how desperate people get when they want to get the information out," said state Sen. Susan Garrett, a Lake Forest Democrat and sponsor of legislation to release inspectors' findings. "Employees shouldn't be put in this type of position where they have to do things in a clandestine way. We should be able to get these reports."
Executive Inspector General James Wright endorsed the same idea in February. Both houses of the General Assembly approved different versions of Garrett's proposal last spring without opposition, but there's been no vote on a reconciled bill.
Dan Sprehe, chief investigator for the Better Government Association, agreed that keeping the reports secret puts employees such as Magalis in a "very difficult position." He wondered whether Magalis was punished more for taking a confidential report out of a cabinet or for giving it to the press.
State law prohibits retaliation against employees who report suspected shenanigans to supervisors or who testify about misconduct. It does not address employees who reveal information to reporters.
Wright's Shalabi report was dated Sept. 29, 2006, according to the Tribune. Blagojevich aides told the newspaper Shalabi was on paid leave and would be dismissed from his administrative post at Tinley Park Mental Health Center. He left his $78,000-a-year on Dec. 28, state records show.
A spokeswoman for the Democratic governor did not respond to a request for comment. Blagojevich was elected as a reformer but federal prosecutors are investigating his administration in several areas, including hiring practices.
Magalis did not return a message left at his Springfield home. A state employee since 1993, state records indicate the 38-year-old Magalis has contributed $1,450 to Republican political campaigns, including $700 in 2002 to former GOP Attorney General Jim Ryan, then Blagojevich's opponent for governor.
DHS fired Magalis from his $81,840 job as a disability and behavioral health administrator with five charges. They included violating report confidentiality; agency rules against theft, unauthorized use of keys and talking to the press; and conduct unbecoming a state employee.
"When state employees report corruption," said his attorney, Draper, "they become the targets of retaliatory action instead of praise and rewards from an administration that touts itself as having the highest ethical standards."