Ex COD Vice President Settles Claim Against School

College of the Desert Vice President Jeff Baker Settles Claim Against Community College

PALM DESERT — Former College of the Desert Vice President Jeffrey Hilton Baker has reached a $500,000 settlement with the college after filing a complaint on Nov. 16, 2022, against the college, former President Martha Garcia and two board of trustee members —Ruben Perez and Bea Gonzalez — and former Trustee Aurora Wilson, alleging they defamed him.

He also claimed the behavior of former trustee Wilson led to retaliation against him after he raised concerns about the college’s 2021 search that resulted in the hiring of Superintendent/President Martha Garcia.

Perez did not return a request for comment.

“I am very satisfied with the settlement and so is our client,” Baker’s attorney, Megan Beaman Jacinto, told Uken Report. “This will allow Mr. Baker to move on in a new path in his career. In the bigger picture this outcome really shows the cost that governments pay when elected and contracted leadership do not abide by the law in their treatment of employees.”

“Public officials are not untouchable, and they should be held accountable when they violate people’s civil rights,” Beaman Jacinto said. “The power of Mr. Baker’s case is that he stood up to a type of retaliatory conduct that many public employees endure, to preserve their jobs. We hope that his case will send a message and prevent similar abuses from happening to others in the future.”

Baker declined to comment.

In his government claim filed with COD, Baker said he suffered substantial emotional distress and damage to his reputation as a higher education administrator.  Baker had been on a mental health disability leave from the college since September, according to the document.

“The conditions Defendants created for Mr. Baker at work are so intolerable that a reasonable person would find no option other than to resign,” according to the document.

Baker served as the college’s interim president/superintendent after the resignation of Joel Kinnamon in March 2021 until Garcia came on board in August 2021.

In his claim, Baker alleged that at some point during the search for COD’s new superintendent/president, he “observed irregularities with the project, which he believed might violate the law.” The document does not identify what those “irregularities” were.

Baker claimed when he raised his concerns about those issues and “possible legal violations” with Wilson and Perez, Wilson “immediately became upset and indicated she did not want to hear about his concerns or have any discussions about the search process.”

Beaman Jacinto said the settlement closes the case, including the pending appeal.

Jeffrey Baker submitted his resignation as Vice President of Student Services on Monday, March 18, 2024. The Board of Trustees formally accepted his resignation during the April 19 meeting as part of the regular consent agenda.

“Due to timing, the settlement agreement with Baker cannot be placed on the board agenda until the next regularly scheduled meeting in May,” Nicholas Robles, public information officer, Office of the President at COD, told Uken Report. “The College, as always, works to meet its obligations under the Brown Act very seriously, including reporting out the terms of any finalized settlement agreements.”