Suit against Fayette Redevelopment Authority tossed
A federal judge has dismissed a claim that a Point Marion man was terminated by the Fayette County Redevelopment Authority because he was a whistleblower.
Chief U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti handed down the decision for a summary judgment in the case brought by Michael J. Volek against the redevelopment authority, saying a reasonable jury would not have found in his favor.
In her ruling, Conti said the authority established that it would have discharged Volek even without knowing he had filed a complaint with the state regarding what he felt was wrong-doing in the weatherization program.
Conti complained to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) in October 2011 that the authority gave preferential treatment to friends and family and that more furnaces were being replaced through the weatherization program than were necessary.
That complaint kicked off an investigation by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), though investigators from that office did not disclose the complaint, saying only that their investigations are done at the request of other state agencies.
The redevelopment authority contended that Volek’s job was eliminated as part of budget cuts in 2012 and 2013, which resulted in layoffs for about a third of the weatherization staff.
“The record reflects that the authority did, in fact, incur the budget cuts for which it was preparing in early 2012. The record reflects both that other employees were laid-off at the same time as Volek and that other weatherization department employees were ultimately laid off as a result of budget cuts,” Conti states in her ruling. “No reasonable jury could conclude that the authority fabricated concerns over the budget as a subterfuge for firing Volek because he complained to the DCED or OIG.”
Volek had been seeking both compensatory and punitive damages in the case against the authority.
Neither Andrew French, executive director of the redevelopment authority, nor Gregory Kunkel, Volek’s attorney, returned calls Wednesday.