Ex-probation officer claims unjust firing

Whistleblower suit says boss was having affair with staffer

SANTA FE — A former state Probation and Parole Division supervisor has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the Department of Corrections, alleging she was fired for confronting the division director over a sexual affair with an employee.

Valerie Barboa, who was the supervisor in the Silver City office until her termination in July 2015, says in the suit that she was told that she was fired for using her personal weapon during a drug raid.

But she claims the dismissal really stems from an “improper” affair between Rose Bobchak, now director of the Probation and Parole Division, and one of Barboa’s subordinates. The affair was against department policy, according to the lawsuit filed last week.

Barboa is requesting compensation and “reinstatement with seniority.”

“We expect all our employees to live up to a high professional standard at the Department of Corrections,” Corrections spokesman S.U. Mahesh said in an email Thursday. “The Department has not reviewed the lawsuit and is not in a position to comment on any allegations at this time.”

According to the complaint, a sexual relationship between Bobchak and a Silver City probation and parole officer led to office tension and the alleged “paramour” receiving special treatment.

The favors included the officer receiving overtime compensation for hours he did not work, his being allowed to retake a physical exam after failing, and an easy and quick transfer for him to a new office after the alleged affair affected the workplace and the officer’s relationship with

Barboa, after she brought it up, the lawsuit says.

The alleged sexual relationship is described as beginning at a 2013 work conference at a hotel. The suit maintains that Bobchak at one point demanded a visit from the probation officer as the then-acting director of the division.

The suit says the officer subsequently would announce whenever Bobchak would call at work and would seemingly “boast” about the affair to plaintiff Barboa, colleagues and even Barboa’s husband, a deputy federal marshal.

The complaint says Bobchak eventually targeted Barboa, whom Bobchak allegedly thought was also having an affair with the same officer. Barboa denies that claim.

Eventually, according to the complaint, Bobchak denied Barboa permission to attend a training session, which Barboa believes stemmed from jealousy. Barboa and her husband contacted Bobchak about her issues with them related to the alleged affair. Bobchak denied the affair and became angry, the complaint says.

In April 2015, Barboa used her own concealed-carry weapon during a special joint task force drug raid not directly related to the Probation and Parole Division. Another officer filed a complaint, and Barboa’s supervisor terminated her that July. The complaint offers conflicting accounts on whether the firing decision was really the district manager’s or Bobchak’s but says Barboa was told it was Bobchak’s.

A phone call to Jason Alarid, Barboa’s attorney, was not returned. The Journal was unable to leave a message on Bobchak’s office phone.