State to pay $2 million jury award

An 11-year legal battle ended favorably for whistleblowers Charles Anderson and Donald Vinson, both members of the Kentucky Association of State Employees (KASE), when the Kentucky Supreme Court recently denied the state’s appeal of a $2 million jury award.

KASE, an affiliate of AFT Public Employees, provided Anderson and Vinson the means to file a lawsuit in 1993 under the state’s whistleblower law—money for legal fees.

Both men, who have since retired, were demoted shortly after informing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state legislators that state Agriculture Department officials were failing to act on reported fraudulent practices and other violations by private pest control companies, including Terminex International Corp.

“Their lives were made very difficult,” explains Jamie Horwitz, associate director of public affairs at AFT headquarters, who worked closely with Anderson and Vinson to publicize their story. “Kentucky is one of a few states where the agriculture commissioner is elected, and Terminex was a campaign contributor to then-commissioner Ed Logsdon.”

In addition to legal action backed by KASE, AFT’s public affairs department launched a full court press, Horwitz says, noting that Anderson and Vinson were the season opener on “Eye to Eye with Connie Chung” and they traveled the region conducting print and broadcast media interviews.

No doubt, the lawsuit and media attention prompted the state attorney general’s investigation into Terminex. That investigation led to a 1994 settlement under which Terminex agreed to pay a $200,000 fine in addition to reinspecting 17,000 homes and businesses.

“They were trying to do what they considered their job to be, which was to report improprieties,” says Charles Wells, KASE’s executive director. “We are proud of these two employees because they were willing to fight for what they believed in, even when it cost them their jobs.”

In 1997, a jury awarded each man $500,000, finding that they had been unfairly demoted. The state appealed that verdict, and the Kentucky Supreme Court ordered a retrial, which in 2001 yielded the jury award of $1 million each for Anderson and Vinson. In addition to denying the state’s appeal, the Supreme Court entered “a finality order” and instructed the state to pay the pair’s legal fees.

“I feel great,” Anderson told The [Louisville] Courier-Journal in 2001 after the Franklin County Circuit Court jury awarded the whistleblowers $2 million. “This is a big win for all public employees.”