The Kennewick Irrigation District failed to win dismissal of a wrongful termination lawsuit Friday, opening the way for a Benton County Superior Court trial this fall.
Brad Wellenbrock claims he was fired in retaliation in 2007 after complaining that a board member tapped into KID water without going through proper procedures.
Friday's hearing for a summary judgment motion focused on whether Wellenbrock should have gone through an administrative law hearing before suing KID.
Kennewick attorney George Fearing, who represents the irrigation district, argued that state law required Wellenbrock to exhaust administrative remedies before filing suit.
"KID denies he was discharged due to whistleblowing," said Fearing, who said the administrative hearing process offered the possibility of reinstatement to the job, something a lawsuit couldn't provide.
Fearing said Wellenbrock had the choice to accept his termination or take his case to an administrative hearing. But if Wellenbrock's intention was to sue, he first would have to go through the administrative hearing process.
Wellenbrock's attorney, Jack Sheridan of Spokane, claimed the intent of the law in whistleblower complaints such as Wellenbrock's is to offer a choice -- file for the hearing or file a lawsuit.
Sheridan told Judge Bruce Spanner that state law gives Wellenbrock a choice, and the intent is not to first offer the hearing, then bring suit.
Spanner decided for Wellenbrock.
"If (the law) was intended to be mandatory, it would've been stated more specifically. I believe (Wellenbrock) has a right to choose," the judge said.
Wellenbrock alleges KID's board of directors, who included Kennewick contractor Loren Watts in 2007, fired him in retaliation because Watts didn't like being questioned about unauthorized use of district water in his construction business and about allegedly ignoring KID procedures and using KID resources while working on construction projects.
Sheridan said Spanner's decision clears the way for a jury trial, possibly by September.
Wellenbrock was paid $81,000 a year as engineering manager when he was fired by district manager Doug Grover in the fall of 2007, shortly after the board hired Grover, a former KID director, for the top job.
Wellenbrock's lawsuit alleges Grover had been told that firing Wellenbrock was a condition of his hiring.
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Retaliation lawsuit starts for former KID worker
Retaliation lawsuit starts for former KID worker
Testimony is to start today for a former Kennewick Irrigation District employee who claims he was fired in 2008 in retaliation for complaining about a board member's alleged misconduct.
Brad Wellenbrock's lawsuit in Benton County Superior Court, which seeks unspecified damages, centers on Loren Watts, a contractor in the Tri-Cities, who was on the KID board in 2007 before resigning later that year.
The lawsuit filed last August claims Watts' company, Watts Construction, "deliberately damaged" a KID water system turnout in order to install irrigation water service for Antoinette Burnside in Kennewick.
Ex-KID board member testifies he was told to fire managers
Ex-KID board member testifies he was told to fire managers
The Kennewick Irrigation District board hired former board member Doug Grover as secretary-manager in 2007 on condition he terminate two managers, the district's former operations manager testified Tuesday.
Harry Fox testified in Benton County Superior Court that Grover confided to him that getting rid of the targeted employees was part of the agreement that put Grover into the agency's top management position.
"(Grover) said as a condition of his being hired he had to fire (former engineering manager Brad Wellenbrock) and me. But he'd do what he could to save me," Fox testified.
Testimony in KID trial focuses on hiring, firing of engineering manager
Testimony in KID trial focuses on hiring, firing of engineering manager
Doug Grover's first act as the newly hired secretary-manager for the Kennewick Irrigation District in 2007 was to fire a whistleblower employee.
His second was to hire an assistant who had the qualifications he lacked, a longtime KID board member testified Friday.
William Kinsel, a 25-year former board member, said he did agree to hire Grover, but not to fire the agency's engineering manager Brad Wellenbrock.
Ex-KID worker testifies about why he lost job
Ex-KID worker testifies about why he lost job
Brad Wellenbrock told a jury Thursday that he was "surprised and shocked" when Doug Grover, newly hired as manager of the Kennewick Irrigation District, told him in November 2007 that "all five board members wanted me fired."
Wellenbrock, who was engineering manager at KID when he was fired, also testified in Benton County Superior Court that he received a pay raise of 4.34 percent, making his annual salary $81,000 at the beginning of the summer.
Five months later, he was placed on paid administrative leave and officially fired in February 2008.
Mistrial declared in KID lawsuit
Mistrial declared in KID lawsuit
A mistrial was declared Tuesday in the wrongful termination lawsuit for a former Kennewick Irrigation District employee.
Superior Court Judge Bruce Spanner granted the defense motion for mistrial based on testimony Friday that referred to George Fearing, KID's lawyer, as the attorney for KID's insurance company.
The dismissal means fired engineering manager Brad Wellenbrock will have to seek a new trial and start over in Benton County Superior Court. Wellenbrock's attorney, Jack Sheridan of Seattle, finished with his witnesses Friday.
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