City of Ashland found to have wrongfully terminated former employee

ASHLAND, Ore.– A federal jury has found the City of Ashland wrongfully terminated a former city employee in a decision that came down late last month from the U.S. District Court in Medford.

Now, the city owes the man hundreds of thousands of dollars for lost income and out of pocket expenses.

The jury found Ashland wrongfully terminated former city employee Pieter Smeenk back in 2017. According to his attorney, Smeenk was fired because he was engaging in whistleblowing.

His attorney, Christoper Lundberg, says Smeenk, who was a senior engineer in the public works department, had concerns in February 2017 about plans being made for a new water treatment plant.

Court documents state Smeenk had serious concerns about, “the project’s propriety, the bidding process, and its readiness for the Council’s approval.” Lundberg also said Smeenk was concerned about excessive fees for the project.

Smeenk approached City Attorney David Lohman and City Administrator at the time, John Karns, before the February 21, 2017 city council meeting and threatened to go public with the information that night at the public meeting if it was not removed from the agenda.

It was removed from that night’s agenda by Michael Faught, then-public works director, according to court documents. However, Smeenk was immediately placed on administrative leave and was then fired roughly a month and a half later on April 7, 2017.

The city now owes Smeenk $258,637. The city can file an appeal by April 20, however, according to the City Attorney Lohman, they are still deciding whether to pay or appeal the decision. Lohman declined to answer any other questions about the case.