Florida

Verdict: Ex-finance director at Keys schools was no whistleblower in embezzlement case

By Gwen Filosa
A Keys jury delivered a split verdict in the Kathy Reitzel wrongful termination lawsuit against the Monroe school board.
A Keys jury delivered a split verdict in the Kathy Reitzel wrongful termination lawsuit against the Monroe school board.

A Keys jury Wednesday dismissed the idea that a former school board employee was a whistleblower punished for exposing an embezzlement scandal in 2009 that involved the then-superintendent’s wife.

Kathy Reitzel, the former finance director for the school district, won’t receive the $490,000 in back pay or damages she sought for her claims that she was fired for blowing the whistle on the Monique Acevedo case.

But the jury hearing her wrongful termination lawsuit did find she was forced to retire in September 2009. The board broke her contract early, the jury found, so the board owes her more than $60,000, the balance of the contract.

The split verdict came Wednesday after a week-long trial at the Monroe County Courthouse before Judge Mark Jones. Retizel testified in detail how she wasn’t Monique Acevedo’s supervisor. Acevedo was director of adult education, a job given to her by her then-husband, the then-schools superintendent Randy Acevedo.

Monique Acevedo is fingerprinted during her sentencing hearing in Key West on Aug. 31, 2010. She was sentenced to eight years in prison for embezzling more than $400,000 from the Monroe County school district. Her then husband, Randy, was the school superintendent.
Monique Acevedo is fingerprinted during her sentencing hearing in Key West on Aug. 31, 2010. She was sentenced to eight years in prison for embezzling more than $400,000 from the Monroe County school district. Her then husband, Randy, was the school superintendent. Cammy Clark Miami Herald file photo

Monique wound up serving seven years in prison while Randy, who was elected superintendent by the voters, got probation. The district hires its superintendent now.

Reitzel says she blew the whistle on the embezzlement, in which Monique racked up more than $400,000 in personal spending on district credit cards and cash payments to adult ed. The school board’s attorney pointed out that in 2007, Retizel knew Monique had purchased plane tickets for her family using a school credit card.

At the time, Reitzel said she went to Randy Acevedo, who reimbursed the district for the tickets, and believed him when he said it wouldn’t happen again.

Retizel chose to retire in September 2009 after she says the interim superintendent planned on having her fired. She sued the school board in 2010.

She declined comment Wednesday evening.

Veteran school board member John Dick said the verdict confirmed what he has been saying for years.

“This is not a whistleblower case,” he said. “That’s the important one.”

This story was originally published October 17, 2018 at 8:14 PM with the headline "Verdict: Ex-finance director at Keys schools was no whistleblower in embezzlement case."