"Whistleblower wins airport suit"

Saturday, December 2, 2006 
  
Whistleblower wins airport suit 
She says security officers were asleep on the job 
By Damian Mann
The Medford (OR) Mail Tribune


A former Medford airport employee won a whistleblower lawsuit against
Jackson County this week after claiming she was fired for disclosing that
some airport security workers had slept while on duty and others didn't have
proper training.

"This trial focused on an epidemic of problems of security officers sleeping
on the job," said Medford attorney Thad Guyer, who represented Lynda
Longfellow, a former airport parking enforcement officer.

The suit contended that Longfellow, who lives in Butte Falls, had been
retaliated against by her superiors, infringing on her First Amendment right
to free speech and expression.

The six-woman, one-man jury in U.S. District Court awarded Longfellow
$365,000 in damages on Wednesday after reviewing evidence including a state
report that the county-owned airport had hired 19 security people without
the proper training or certification in 2004 and 2005.

Longfellow, according to court documents, reported that eight security
officers had slept on the job. She raised other issues, including suspicions
that security personnel may have used drugs or alcohol on the job.
 
Longfellow said this week the problems at the airport had been covered up
for too long.

"It's a shame when people speak out and are punished for it," she said. "I'm
glad it's over."

The case raised a host of issues at the airport:

A notice of intent to assess a $19,000 civil penalty for using uncertified
workers was issued by the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and
Training in August 2005. Jackson County has contested the penalty.

According to a report issued by the Department of Public Safety Standards
and Training, Airport Security Supervisor Brian Gebhard had been warned in
October 2003 that there were security workers who didn't have the proper
certification.

Two airport security personnel were fired for sleeping on the job and
another employee was fired after the theft of a laptop computer.

An unidentified individual passed an unknown item through the security fence
to a passenger boarding a plane, leading airport officials to install a
screen to prevent similar incidents.

In 2004, the federal Transportation Security Administration told airport
officials that if they would agree to fix the problems, they would not face
a federal fine.

Mike Jewett, an Ashland attorney representing the county, said he was
surprised by the jury's decision and would file a motion with District Court
Judge Owen Panner to reduce the damage award.

Jewett said Longfellow wasn't fired because she was a whistleblower.

"Our position was that she was fired for misconduct," he said, declining to
elaborate on the details of the misconduct.

Jewett also said the issues raised in the trial have been resolved.

"This is describing things that happened two years ago," he said. "This is a
safe airport."

In a transcript of testimony given by Airport Director Bern Case, who was
named in the suit, he denied that the problems had resulted in the airport
being placed on probation.

"We have never been placed on probation for a security item, ever," Case
testified. 

However, responding to a question from Guyer, Gebhard, the security
supervisor, agreed that the airport had been put under "some kind of
probation" and that TSA officials had expressed concern about employees
sleeping on the job.

Case said after the jury decision he couldn't respond to questions about the
case. "I would like to talk about it, but it's not appropriate because all
the action is not completed," he said.

Jewett said the airport wasn't placed under "formal probation."

He said the 19 employees had been certified by TSA, but not by the state.
The security personnel in question were hired by Jackson County and were not
TSA employees.

Stephani Ayers, a Seattle attorney who works with Guyer, said TSA conducts
background checks on employees but doesn't do the training or testing
required by the state.

Guyer said the problems at the airport should be a matter of serious
community concern.

"The status of security at the Medford airport needs an audit by an outside
firm," he said.

Longfellow said she's relieved to finally have her name cleared by a jury.

Despite the legal battle, she said, "I loved my job and I wouldn't mind
going back there."


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