Lawsuit: East Lansing violated state law when it fired wastewater treatment plant employee

EAST LANSING — A former employee of the city's wastewater treatment plant says he was fired in retaliation for reporting health and safety violations to state agencies and filing a workers compensation claim. 

Troy Williams sued the city late last month — about three months after he was fired on Dec. 31, 2018 following nearly 10 years with the city as a pump mechanic specialist.

He's alleging the city violated state law by firing him in retaliation for his repeated reporting of health and safety violations and for filing a worker's compensation claim.

City officials say he was fired because of "work restrictions that prohibited him from performing the essential functions of the job" and argue he failed to "exhaust available remedies" available to unionized city employees. 

Manda Danieleski, a Saginaw-based attorney representing Williams, said the case is important because it sends a message of support to other potential whistleblowers.

An attorney representing the city did not respond to requests for an interview. 

Williams was also part of 2015 lawsuit against city

In the lawsuit, Wiliams claims protection as a whistleblower, saying he made regular reports to the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. 

Williams "threatened to report violations and was told by the (city) that if he did he would be 'on the outside looking in,'" according to an amended version of the complaint filed Monday in Ingham County Circuit Court. 

He also was one of nine East Lansing employees who filed suit against the city in January 2015 for asbestos and mercury exposure.

The lawsuit alleged the city never told the employees about a 2007 study that identified asbestos in the treatment plant, and at least a few of them claimed they were told to "keep quiet" when they asked about the asbestos.

An abatement of the asbestos started in spring 2014, shortly after the city released a summary of the study to workers. 

The lawsuit also involved an accidental spill of mercury in November 2013 that was neither cleaned nor reported properly.

East Lansing was fined twice by MIOSHA: Once for safety violations related to the asbestos and mercury issues, and a second time for new violations and because the city did not correct previous violations. The city paid a total of $21,000 to the DEQ and $13,950 to MIOSHA.

In June 2018, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the city, saying there wasn't evidence the city or top employees at the treatment plant "subjected (the employees) to a continuously dangerous operative condition that they knew would cause injury."  

East Lansing officials say Williams' claim of whistleblowing activities is untrue. An attorney representing the city did not respond to messages seeking more information about that and other statements. 

Alleging 'multiple' work-related injuries

Williams suffered "multiple" work-related injuries, according to the complaint. 

He tore his bicep in June 2017 and alleges the exposure to asbestos and mercury caused lung disease. 

In its response to the lawsuit, the city acknowledges the bicep injury but does not acknowledge any connection between the lung disease and Williams' job in the treatment plant. 

Williams' workers compensation case is ongoing, Danieleski said, and he hopes to settle it soon. 

Damages would 'put a Band-Aid on what they've done to him'

Williams hopes the lawsuit results in payments from the city — he claiming more than $25,000 in both economic and non-economic damages and hopes to also recover attorney fees and costs. 

Danieleski said those fees and costs "can be substantial in a case like this." 

She didn't put a figure on what Williams is seeking in total, saying it's "too early to crystallize that at this point."

She said he'll seek to recover lost wages and benefits through the age of retirement, not including anything he could or does earn if he secures another job. 

Williams and his lawyers are "hiring an expert economist to project that loss," Danieleski said. 

Read more coverage of East Lansing on LSJ.com:

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Contact reporter Megan Banta at (517) 377-1261 or mbanta@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @MeganBanta_1.