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Steve Everson, the former Transportation Department manager in the Coachella Valley school district, says he was fired for doing the right thing—reporting suspected payroll fraud.
Everson says he noticed irregularities, including staff allegedly padding their timecards. When he brought these concerns to district leadership, he was first placed on administrative leave. Now, he’s been officially terminated.
“They fired me because I pointed out misuse of public funds,” Everson said in an interview with NBC Palm Springs. “I followed the chain of command, gave them documentation, and instead of addressing it—they removed me.”
Adding to the controversy, Everson was not present at the school board meeting where his dismissal was voted on. The original meeting he was supposed to attend was canceled, and when the district rescheduled it, he was already overseas attending his daughter’s wedding—a trip that had been approved months earlier by a former supervisor. Despite his absence, the board moved forward with the vote.
Everson says he sent the board all relevant documents ahead of the meeting, but questions whether they actually reviewed them. “If they had read what I sent, I don’t think we’d be here right now,” he said. “I believe I would have been reinstated.”
The district has told Everson he has the right to appeal, a step he is now pursuing. Still, he questions the logic of being fired and then encouraged to appeal that very decision. “It doesn’t make sense,...
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