AUSTIN — A top lawyer at the attorney general’s office was fired last year when she raised concerns that her bosses were breaking federal rules as they scrambled to salvage a foundering technology deal that has cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
After Martha Fitzwater Pigott filed a grievance of her termination in September, records show, Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office offered and signed a settlement to keep her on the state payroll for nearly six months and to keep the details of her complaint secret.
Fitzwater Pigott was overseeing a contract with tech giant Accenture, which was hired in 2010 by then-Attorney General Greg Abbott to overhaul Texas’ antiquated child support system. In his run for governor, Abbott routinely touted the success of the Child Support Division.