A Pima County Superior Court judge has thrown out a fired University of Arizona employee's retaliation claim against the Arizona Board of Regents, ending her case without a trial.

Judge Kyle Bryson granted ABOR's motion for summary judgment and denied Clarissa Siebern's competing motion in a ruling filed Monday.

He vacated the trial that had been set for December and all remaining pretrial deadlines.

Siebern, the former business manager for UA's Department of Disability and Psychoeducational Studies, says she was fired in October 2023 for raising concerns to her superiors about understaffing, low pay and burnout in her department. ABOR said she was fired over a roughly four-month delay in processing a student worker's payment.

Bryson wrote in his ruling that Siebern never showed she intended to disclose wrongdoing under ABOR Policy 6-914, the university's whistleblower policy.

He wrote that the policy implies a disclosing employee must make clear they believe wrongdoing occurred, and the emails and meeting summaries Siebern submitted showed her advocating for her department, not reporting misconduct.

Bryson also ruled Siebern's complaints didn't touch on a matter of public concern, a separate requirement for whistleblower protection. He wrote she was acting as a liaison between her department and its leadership, communicating problems and making requests "as anyone in her exact position would be expected to do," and that UA being a public entity doesn't turn workload and pay discussions into a public concern.

ABOR asks judge to toss UA manager’s retaliation claim

The Arizona Board of Regents says a longtime University of Arizona employee was fired over a botched student payment, but her attorney says the board’s account of that decision has changed more than once.

Tucson SpotlightCaitlin Schmidt

Bryson did note that whether Siebern was actually fired for her complaints or for the payment delay remained a disputed fact, but called that question moot given his other findings.

Siebern can appeal the ruling and told Tucson Spotlight she's weighing her options. She said the ruling doesn't change what she believes happened.

"I repeatedly reported faculty and students working without proper hiring and I-9 processing and other pay-related violations," Siebern said. "Sworn testimony acknowledged these problems existed ‘in other departments and, frankly, in other colleges at the university."

Siebern called the outcome ironic, noting she was fired over a student's delayed payment, the same kind of labor issue she says she'd been flagging, even though managing that student's pay fell under grant duties she says weren't hers to handle and belonged to a different team.

"These were not merely personal workplace grievances. I was reporting what I believed were violations of law and university policy involving workers at a public institution," Siebern said.

She noted that the university moved I-9 processing outside the university this spring.

"If reporting systemic labor, hiring, and pay violations at a public university is not a matter of public concern, what is? That is a question I intend to raise with counsel as we consider an appeal," Siebern said.

ABOR did not respond to Tucson Spotlight's request for comment.

Caitlin Schmidt is editor and publisher of Tucson Spotlight. Contact her at caitlin@tucsonspotlight.org.

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