In the first of what may be several lawsuits by former employees of North Dakota’s Workforce Safety and Insurance (WSI) agency, a former fraud investigator says several top WSI officials illegally schemed to fire him.
Todd Flanagan’s lawsuit, filed in South Central District Court in Bismarck, demands at least $50,000 in damages, along with additional money to punish the agency. It says he should get his job back with up to two years’ worth of back pay and benefits.
North Dakota law has a $250,000 limit on the damages an individual may win in a lawsuit against the state.
Flanagan says he was dismissed from his job at Workforce Safety last December because he cooperated with prosecutors in a felony criminal case against Sandy Blunt, WSI’s former director, and Romi Leingang, Flanagan’s former supervisor. Leingang is a former head of the agency’s investigations unit.
Last October, Flanagan asked Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem for “whistleblower” protection from retaliation, under state laws that are intended to protect workers who report possible wrongdoing on the job. Flanagan was fired Dec. 5.
The charges against both Blunt and Leingang were ultimately dropped, although the Burleigh County prosecutor has asked the North Dakota Supreme Court to reinstate charges that Blunt misspent WSI money. Both no longer work at the agency.
Three other former Workforce Safety employees who were fired after they sought whistleblower protection are also contemplating lawsuits are Kay Grinsteinner, who was the agency’s internal auditor; James Long, its chief of support services; and Billi Peltz, its human resources manager.
Flanagan’s lawsuit names the state and Workforce Safety and Insurance as defendants, along with Blunt; John Halvorson, the agency’s chief of employer services; WSI attorneys Jodi Bjornson and Robin Forward; and Robert Indvik, the former chairman of Workforce Safety’s board of directors. Leingang is not a defendant.
Stenehjem said the case has been forwarded to North Dakota’s risk management division, which handles money claims against the state. The allegations are being reviewed, and “a proper response will be filed, so the matter may proceed,” the attorney general said in a statement.
Leingang’s lawsuit traces his dismissal to his decision to give evidence against Blunt and Leingang in a state Highway Patrol investigation of whether they conspired to disclose confidential driver’s license photos.
Leingang and Flanagan used the photos during an investigation into the identity of a person who was e-mailing WSI salary information to agency employees.
Blunt ordered the probe. The Burleigh County state’s attorney gave Flanagan immunity from prosecution for his information.
In his request to Stenehjem for whistleblower protection, Flanagan said Leingang had passed along a message from Blunt, which he interpreted as an attempt to intimidate him before he gave information to prosecutors. Leingang also told him Indvik had tried to derail his immunity from prosecution, Flanagan said.
Forward investigated the claims and concluded Flanagan could not be believed. Flanagan’s lawsuit says Forward’s probe was used to justify his dismissal.
“Blunt, Halvorson, Bjornson, Forward and Indvik conspired to conduct an investigation against Flanagan concerning protected whistleblower activities, and conspired to terminate his employment at the conclusion of the investigation,” Flanagan’s lawsuit says.
The complaint is dated May 16.
Topics Lawsuits Workers' Compensation
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