The funds were handed out to community-based organizations between 1995 and 2000 to teach English as a second language to adults. Some of the schools turned out to be nonexistent. When James Lindberg, a veteran state worker, reported the corruption and fraud to then-schools perintendent Delaine Eastin, she ignored him, he said. Later, he was transferred to another job and given no duties. His job stress led to two heart attacks and put him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, said his lawyer. A separate jury in 2002 found Lindberg had been retaliated against by the department, Eastin and department manager Joan Polster.

Those jurors awarded Lindberg $4.5 million, but the state appealed, and the 3rd District Court of Appeal sent the case back for a retrial on the damage award. On Monday, the second jury returned with a verdict $3 million more than the previous panel's. David Cheit, a lawyer for the defendants, could not immediately be reached for comment on the possibility of an appeal.

by Hudson Sangree,The Sacramento Bee

 April 25, 2007