City of Vallejo Pays Nearly $3 Million Settlement for Whistleblower Retaliation

Vallejo pays $1.85 M to Slater Matzke and Will Morat, in addition to the $1M previously paid to Joanna Altman to settle claims of whistleblower retaliation.

OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The City of Vallejo has agreed to pay former Special Advisor to the City Manager Slater Matzke and former Assistant to the City Manager Will Morat $1.85 M. Together with former Assistant to the City Manager Joanna Altman, the pair sued after they were terminated in April 2020.  Before the trio were forced to resort to litigation, the city refused to acknowledge the illegal action and restore their employment with the City.   Thereafter, the City fought the lawsuit for over four years.  The City had previously agreed to pay Altman $1 M.  This brings the total paid by Vallejo to the wrongfully fired whistleblowers to $2.85 M.

The three high ranking civil servants had each complained that prior City Manager Greg Nyhoff was violating the law and various City rules and regulations, including influencing negotiations in favor of the private developer on Mare Island.  When their complaints reached the City Council, an investigation was ordered to be conducted by an outside law firm. The City allegedly cleared Nyhoff of wrongdoing without bothering to do a full and complete investigation, and instead, allowed Nyhoff to fire the three within less than 24 hours of the investigation's conclusion. Regrettably, after their terminations, the City proceeded with entering into an even worse deal on Mare Island that lacked key development milestones and required infrastructure improvements without guaranteed revenues for the community. 

Will Morat comments: "The Vallejo City Attorney's Office was charged with conducting the investigation into Nyhoff.  Not only did they fail to investigate any of our claims that Nyhoff was illegally watering down development deals in favor of private developers, they then helped Nyhoff retaliate against us for speaking out.  These attorneys are still with the city, despite directly helping to silence whistleblowers and enabling a corrupt city administration to continue operating against the best interest of the public and costing the City nearly $3 M in legal settlements."

Slater Matzke comments: "My colleagues and I raised concerns to multiple Vallejo City Council members about serious misconduct by City Manager Greg Nyhoff. Instead of thoroughly investigating these legitimate concerns, City leaders colluded to execute a plan of retaliation against those of us who came forward to stand up for the people of Vallejo. Vallejo is my home, and it was my duty and responsibility as a public official to protect the best interests of my community from those who would seek to do it harm. To this day, our allegations of illegal misconduct have still not been independently investigated, and none of the perpetrators, including the individuals who plotted to retaliate against whistleblowers, have been held accountable and a number continue to work inside City Hall to this day. Even though the City has continued to fight us and hide the truth for over four years, I would not hesitate for a moment to stand up again for my fellow Vallejoans."

Randall Strauss comments: "This vindication was a long time in coming.  This substantial settlement is acknowledgment that my clients did the right thing by bringing corruption to light in the City of Vallejo.  In response, they were fired, forced to endure years of litigation, and the dragging of their good names through the mud publicly.  Hopefully the people charged with running Vallejo for the public good will learn from this experience and take whistleblowers seriously in the future.  By refusing to do the right thing and investigate wrongdoing, the entire community ends up paying the price"

Contact Randall Strauss at 510-832-5411 or by emailing [email protected] 

SOURCE The Law Firm of Gwilliam Ivary Chiosso Cavalli & Brewer