FRANCIS X. Dougherty, who was fired as the school district's deputy chief business officer after an investigation into who leaked information about the awarding of a $7.5-million no-bid surveillance-camera project, has filed a federal lawsuit contending that he was fired for being a whistle-blower.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court, contends that he was dumped for telling the FBI, state officials and the Inquirer about his allegation that former Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman improperly steered the contract to a minority firm in 2010, bypassing Security & Data Technologies Inc., which already had begun work on the project to install cameras in 19 city schools deemed dangerous.
