The state Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) has reached a $650,000 settlement with two former employees who were fired after raising concerns about the agency’s practice of conducting official business through an encrypted messaging app under Director Brian Blalock, pictured in 2021.
Gabriela Campos/New Mexican file photo
Bryan Davis was co-counsel in CYFD Settlement
The state Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) has reached a $650,000 settlement with two former employees who were fired after raising concerns about the agency’s practice of conducting official business through an encrypted messaging app and automatically deleting messages in potential violation of New Mexico’s public records law.
Cliff Gilmore and his wife, Debra, alleged they were fired in retaliation after speaking up about what they considered “potentially unethical and illegal conduct by senior officials within CYFD,” according to a news release issued by the Albuquerque-based law firm Hall Monagle Huffman & Wallace LLC.
“We wanted to hold CYFD accountable and stand up for others who may have been treated the way we were,” the couple said Tuesday in a joint statement. “We aimed to shine light on what we believed to be wrongdoing that was directly harmful to the very children that CYFD was sworn to protect.”
The pair moved from Washington state to New Mexico in late 2020 to serve as the child welfare agency’s public information officer and director of the Office of Children’s Rights, respectively.
Based on their previous experience in government, both grew concerned at the start of their jobs when they were instructed to communicate through the secure text messaging app Signal, according to a lawsuit the pair filed in 2021.
The lawsuit, filed under the New Mexico Whistleblower Protection Act, alleged former Cabinet Secretary Brian Blalock and former Deputy Secretary Terry Locke directed them and other CYFD staff to set up certain Signal channels to auto-delete.
“Alarmed by the high potential for public mistrust and concerned that the directed practice could violate public record retention laws, the Gilmores each raised independent concerns,” according to the lawsuit, which named CYFD, Blalock and Locke as defendants.
“Additionally, the Gilmores each raised or filed formal complaints concerning other ethical concerns they had with CYFD, including flagging problems with non-competitive procurement of information systems software, improper hiring interference, and having contractors evaluate and direct the duties of public employees,” the lawsuit states.
Within weeks of filing ethics complaints, both were fired on the same date and time, ostensibly because of poor job performances.
“The Gilmores would not go unpunished for whistleblowing,” the lawsuit states.
Under the settlement agreement between the Gilmores and CYFD, the agency denies the allegations.
“This agreement does not constitute and will not be construed by the parties as an admission … of any unlawful, improper or wrongful conduct,” the lawsuit states.
Jess Preston, a department spokeswoman, would say only the lawsuit had been resolved.
“We have nothing further to add at this time,” she said.
While CYFD did not admit liability or wrongdoing under the settlement, the Gilmores believe their whistleblowing contributed to Blalock’s departure as Cabinet secretary, ended the agency’s use of the secret messaging app and prompted the state to “fairly” put a project worth millions of dollars out to public bid, according to their attorneys.
“From here, we must rely on diligent oversight by public citizens, dedicated journalists, and the justice system to continue holding the governor and CYFD accountable for ethical conduct, transparency, and continuous improvement of services to protect and support New Mexico’s children and families,” the couple said in their statement.
Source: SF New Mexican, By Daniel J. Chacón