Former Hopkins officials deny inappropriate use of state grant funds

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Two former Johns Hopkins University officials on Friday disputed claims that they inappropriately used money from a Maryland State Department of Education grant.

The officials, Chris Swanson and Jon Farley, who ran an institute within the JHU School of Education, were accused of using MSDE grant money to benefit a business owned by a family member of Swanson’s and to buy luxury suite tickets to Orioles games, according to a complaint against the university filed last month.

Brian Siatkowski, who worked as marketing director for the institute, says he refused a request from Farley and Swanson to buy tickets in July 2022, then found further evidence of misuse of grant funds. He says he was demoted, disempowered and put “out to pasture” until he was fired in September 2024.

Swanson, speaking on behalf of himself and Farley, said the claims were inaccurate and misleading.

“I strongly contest the allegations or the characterization,” Swanson told The Daily Record.

“Mr. Siatkowski had performance issues as an employee, and those were the facts while I was there. Whatever happened after I left is for someone else to comment on, but his characterization of the facts (is) inaccurate.”

Swanson declined to add more detail to his side of the story or to elaborate on those “performance issues,” and said he was exploring his options. He and Farley are not named as defendants.

Siatkowski sued the university on Jan. 27 in Baltimore City Circuit Court. Hopkins removed the case to federal court. He brought one claim of unlawful retaliation or firing, alleging a violation of the Maryland State Contractor Employees’ Whistleblower Protection Act.

Siatkowski worked as marketing director for the JHU IDEALS Institute. Swanson was executive director and Farley was COO.

The institute received money from MSDE to promote a grant fund incentivizing child care providers to publish quality ratings.

According to the complaint, Swanson and Farley threatened Siatkowski after he refused to spend grant funds on Orioles tickets.

Siatkowski then looked into previous spending of grant funds, and found Orioles tickets had been purchased at least three times. He found a payment to a company owned by Swanson’s sister, as well as purchases of “tents and other items for Swanson to host Halloween parties at Swanson’s home.”

The lawsuit does not state how much money was allegedly misused.

Siatkowski then filed a whistleblower complaint, believing “in good faith and upon reasonable grounds that Swanson and Farley had abused their authority or perpetrated a gross mismanagement or gross waste of money.”

The complaint forced Swanson and Farley to resign in early 2023, the lawsuit states, but they retaliated against him before they left, and the next director “carried out the retaliatory and retribution interests of Swanson and Farley.” That director, Tonya Satchell, was not named as a defendant and did not respond to a request for comment.

Siatkowski was demoted, stripped of management duties over a subordinate, forbidden from direct contact with MSDE personnel, prevented from attending a conference, and more. He was fired when the grant expired.

Spokespeople for Johns Hopkins and MSDE declined to comment earlier this month.

Swanson did not comment on the terms of his and Farley’s departures from Hopkins. He left in January 2023; Farley left in April 2023.

They both now work at C-IMPACT, a business that, according to its website, aims “to improve the lives of children, families, and vulnerable adults by transforming care, education, health, employment and social and public service systems and practices through collective impact models and ecological systems approaches.”