Copyright 2022 Albuquerque Journal
SANTA FE – The state Department of Public Safety has reached a $175,000 settlement resolving a whistleblower lawsuit filed by an officer who had been assigned to the security detail of then-Gov. Susana Martinez.
In the suit, plaintiff Tony Fetty had leveled a series of allegations about a fellow agent’s gambling debt, a personal relationship between the governor and the agent, and an emotional episode involving another member of the security detail who had threatened to drink bleach.
Fetty also accused the state of retaliating against him after he reported his concerns and of discriminating against him – allegations the Department of Public Safety denied.
As part of the settlement signed last month, the state agreed to pay Fetty $175,000 and provide a neutral job reference for him.
In return, he dropped the lawsuit and acknowledged that he would be barred from future employment at the Department of Public Safety.
The settlement was disclosed on New Mexico’s transparency website.
The Journal wasn’t able to reach a spokeswoman for Martinez on Friday. But in response to similar allegations in another legal claim, a spokesperson for her called the allegations “ridiculous” and “completely removed from the truth.”
The eye-opening suit filed by Fetty in 2019 made a series of allegations about the inner-workings of the security protection detail assigned to then-Gov. Martinez and the first gentleman, Chuck Franco.
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