A former government attorney is seeking nearly $800,000 in compensation under Georgia’s whistleblower protection laws for being, as she claims, unlawfully terminated from her position as the Chief Legal Officer for the Georgia Department of Health.
Jennifer Dalton claims she was fired in retaliation for questioning a contract for COVID19 vaccine scheduling that was awarded without competitive bidding. Dalton also claims she faced retaliation for releasing emails to the AJC that she says she was asked to redact but didn’t because she believed redacting them would have been a violation of Georgia’s Open Records Act.
The emails became the basis for an AJC article on Gov. Brian Kemp’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Officials at the Department of Public Health say the reason for Dalton’s termination as a failure to satisfy a six-month probationary period.
Dalton had joined the DPH in October after working for 23 years in the Georgia attorney general’s office.
