A former North Dakota workers’ compensation executive claims in a lawsuit that agency attorneys and board members plotted to fire him for talking to investigators about possible crimes at Workforce Safety and Insurance (WSI).
In court papers, lawyers for WSI deny any conspiracy against James Long, and contend he only went to authorities with his complaints after he knew he was going to be sacked.
Long’s complaint, filed this week in South Central District Court, seeks at least $50,000 in damages, payment of his attorneys’ fees and up to two years’ worth of back pay and benefits from the agency.
Long spoke to Burleigh County prosecutors and the Bureau of Criminal Investigation about alleged wrongdoing at WSI after criminal charges against the agency’s then-director, Sandy Blunt, and its investigations director, Romi Leingang, had been dismissed, the lawsuit says. Long provided a detailed statement outlining his questions about the agency’s operations.
“When executives at WSI learned that Mr. Long was providing information and assistance to the police and prosecution regarding possible criminal activity and misapplication of funds at WSI, some of the executives met and conspired and agreed to follow a course of action which would impair or kill any investigation of Mr. Long’s allegations,” the lawsuit says. “They further charted and agreed upon a course of action to retaliate against Mr. Long.”
Long was suspended from his job with pay in November 2007.
The lawsuit says Blunt, WSI attorneys Tim Wahlin and Rob Forward, former WSI chairman Robert Indvik, current chairman Mark Gjovig, assistant attorney general Tag Anderson, and WSI executive John Halvorson met to “concoct allegations” against Long in an attempt to discredit him.
All are defendants in the lawsuit, along with the state of North Dakota and the Workforce Safety and Insurance agency itself.
“James Long was wrongfully fired from his job at WSI,” the lawsuit says.
Two Bismarck attorneys, Randall Bakke and Mitchell Armstrong, have been hired as special assistant attorneys general to defend against Long’s lawsuit. In their own filing, they denied any wrongdoing by Workforce Safety executives and board members.
Long approached Burleigh County prosecutors and the Bureau of Criminal Investigation on his own and the decision to fire him was not influenced by his action, Bakke and Armstrong wrote.
“Defendants assert that, to the extent Long participated in the criminal investigations alleged, he did so after it was already decided that he was to be terminated from his employment at WSI,” the response says.
The reply raises a number of defenses, arguing that Long’s lawsuit was filed too late; that state law protects its defendants from being sued and that Long has not fully pursued administrative appeals before deciding to go to court.
In October 2007, Long was among a group of WSI employees who asked for whistleblower protection under a state law that bans retaliation against employees who report possible wrongdoing on the job.
Another employee who sought protection, former WSI fraud investigator Todd Flanagan, also sued the agency after he was fired last December. His lawsuit is pending.
Topics Lawsuits Workers' Compensation
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