Former employee sues state over stalking allegations

WASILLA — A former Valley employee of the Alaska Division of Public Assistance is suing the state for more than $100,000 over allegations she wasn’t protected from a pair of stalkers who forced her to move out of state.

According to a letter attorney Tim Twomey sent to Gov. Sean Parnell on behalf of Lisa Carpenter, the stalking began in June 2010.

Carpenter had penned a letter for use in a court hearing as part of domestic violence proceedings between an Office of Children’s Services client and Floyd Lee.

“On June 11, 2010, Floyd Lee telephoned Ms. Carpenter’s direct supervisor to falsely report that Ms. Carpenter had left her office in Wasilla, driven to Anchorage and assaulted him, Mary Transki and their children,” Twomey writes.

From there things escalated, Twomey writes. Transki and Lee called numerous state officials. They sent letters to Carpenter’s employers. They claimed she was a liar, an embezzler, an animal abuser, an impersonator of an OCS employee, a tax cheat and a child abuser.

In August 2010, Carpenter resigned from the state, but the harassment continued.

“On May 24, 2011, three ads were placed on Craigslist providing Ms. Carpenter’s home and cellular phone numbers, home address, place of employment, work telephone number and name. The ads suggested that Ms. Carpetner is a prostitute offering sexual services, has cheap vehicles for sale, is getting a divorce, is selling toys and clothes from her place of employment and that people should come to her home or work,” Twomey wrote.

That incident in particular led to so many people stopping by and calling that Carpenter “was forced to change her telephone number and to stand on the deck of her home with a gun to protect her family.”

Twomey writes that the IP addresses of the posters traced back to a computer Lee and Transki were renting.

While she worked with the state, Twomey wrote, Carpenter asked for help and was told her concerns were getting bumped up the chain of command. Twomey alleges no one was dealing with the complaints, and in fact supervisors advised Carpenter not to get a protective order to avoid appearing as if she was retaliating against Lee.

Twomey alleges that Carpenter tried to seek help with both Alaska State Troopers and state probations officers, but didn’t get any despite Transki and Lee both being on parole at the time.

Eventually, Carpenter and her children left the state while her husband stayed behind to work.

“She suffered extreme emotional distress, which resulted in physical illness. Due to the stress and anxiety of this situation, Ms. Carpenter spent the summer of 2010 covered in hives. Her hair fell out, she lost weight and she was unable to sleep,” Twomey writes.

The lawsuit was filed late last month. Court records show the state has yet to file a response to Carpenter’s suit.

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.