KEOKUK, Iowa (AP) - A former Lee County employee has filed a whistleblower lawsuit, saying the county retaliated against her by forcing her to resign after she accused county conservation co-workers of plagiarism.
Diana R. Verdught, a 16-year county employee, recently filed the lawsuit South Lee County District Court seeking an undisclosed amount in actual and punitive damages from the county board, the Burlington Hawk Eye reported (https://bit.ly/1hnaIH2 ).
In the lawsuit, Verdught says she became aware last year that Lee County employees had “engaged in plagiarism of items which had been published. The acts of plagiarism were reported by the plaintiff to her immediate supervisor, as well as the Lee County Board of Supervisors.”
Verdught’s attorney, Curtis Dial of Keokuk, declined to give details about the alleged plagiarism, but said Verdught’s working conditions following her disclosure became so difficult that she was forced to quit her job in February.
Dial said Iowa’s whistleblower law should have prevented the county running Verdught out of her position.
Steven Ort, a New London attorney who represents the Lee County Board of Supervisors, declined to comment on Verdught’s lawsuit.
It is the second time Dial and Ort have been on opposite sides of a whistleblower case involving the Lee County Board of Supervisors.
Last year, a jury awarded former Lee County maintenance director Rick Carter $186,000, saying he should not have been fired for reporting problems with the Lee County Jail as it was being constructed.
The judge in his case later set aside the jury’s award, saying Carter failed to show he was wrongly fired or protected by the whistleblower law. Carter’s appeal of the judge’s action is pending.
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Information from: The Hawk Eye, https://www.thehawkeye.com
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