Lawmakers and members of the public criticized the Alabama Board of Pharmacy at a Sunset committee meeting on Thursday for a recent settlement with a former executive secretary.
A sunset report released by the Alabama Examiners of Public Accounts on Wednesday provided more details about the January resignation of Donna Yeatman, the former executive secretary of the Alabama Board of Pharmacy, who received a $255,000 settlement. The resignation came after a 2024 report found several "significant issues” on the pharmacy board. The Legislature then passed a bill overhauling the board in the 2025 session.
According to the sunset report released on Wednesday, the board erroneously referred to the settlement agreement as a case in its meeting minutes. The report also details how the board omitted from its meeting minutes on January 22 that the board had requested Yeatman’s resignation. The board also violated the Open Meetings Act by discussing Yeatman’s job performance at the January meeting behind closed doors by calling an executive session, according to the sunset report.
Joseph Kreps, an attorney who has represented pharmacists before the board, said the board has a culture problem.
“I get calls from pharmacists all the time. They’re mad because this board is essentially spending their money to essentially pay (Yeatman) off,” Kreps said. “I don’t know what she knows or who she’s close to. I don’t know why they paid her off. Obviously, it’s not proper. Pharmacists are upset about it. It’s just not appropriate for that to be occurring in our state.”
House Pro-Tem Chris Pringle (R-Mobile) said the settlement was an example of boards using public funds to “buy the silence of their former employees.”
“The pharmacists are scared of the board. I’m sick and tired of licensure boards using taxpayers’ money to buy people off, buy their silence,” Pringle said. “I’ve had licensure boards stand before me and say, ‘Well we used taxpayer’s money to buy people’s silence illegally based on a ruling the Attorney General’s Office gave us permission to use money illegally to sign non-disclosure agreements. I’m tired of it. It’s not their money. It’s the taxpayer’s money and I’m tired of them using that money to buy the silence of their former employees to avoid litigation over the stuff they’ve done that’s not right.”
William Califf, a spokesman for Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, told 1819 News in a statement, “When the Attorney General’s Office represents an agency, we advise on the risks of trial versus settlement.”
“Litigation in employment cases can be costly and disruptive, but settling weak claims could encourage more. Each case is decided on its facts, and we cannot discuss specifics due to confidentiality,” Califf said.
Kreps also said at the meeting that the Alabama Board of Pharmacy has retaliated against him in response to his criticisms.
“When I spoke on August 22 last year at the sunset hearing, within probably about a month later, these board members who are sitting here filed a bar complaint against me. That doesn’t bother me, but it just goes to show you, I mean, they stood up here in August of last year and said they don’t retaliate, but they did,” Kreps said. “I spoke in the House committee. I think it was in February. The next day, this board sent an investigator to a pharmacy of my cousin and the last question the investigator asked my cousin was, ‘How are you related to this Kreps attorney in Birmingham?’ For them to stand up here and say they don’t retaliate, it’s just not true. Something has to be done.”
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