Idaho Supreme Court rules whistleblower lawsuit should proceed to trial

The Idaho Supreme Court has sent a whistleblower lawsuit back to district court in a case involving a Portneuf Medical Center LifeFlight mechanic who was fired after complaining about possible safety violations concerning the rescue helicopter.
The justices earlier this week ruled that the district court judge erred in granting summary judgment on the whistleblower part of the lawsuit and remanded it back to Sixth District Court in eastern Idaho.
Mark Van was fired in April 2005 from his job as director of maintenance for LifeFlight for what the medical center said was Van’s inability to maintain good relationships with other workers.
Van contends he was fired for his whistleblower activities, which included reporting his beliefs that pilots had accumulated too much time on duty, flown the helicopter too low, taken off with ice on the helicopter’s rotor blades, and flown the helicopter even though inspection time intervals had been exceeded.
In making the ruling, the justices set a precedent in determining that whistleblower claims aren’t subject to the Idaho Tort Claims Act. Tort claims are prerequisites to lawsuits in cases involving government entities and must meet certain provisions and deadlines.
Sixth District Judge Peter McDermott ruled that Van did not meet those provisions with his whistleblower lawsuit. But the justices determined McDermott erred because Van didn’t need to meet those requirements.
The justices also determined that McDermott erred in granting summary judgment for the Portneuf Medical Center by “simply accepting PMC’s proffered reason for firing Van” even though Van put forward an argument that his firing was retaliatory. The justices wrote that “questions of material fact remained to be tried by a jury.”
Justices also vacated the lower court’s awarding of attorney fees of about $117,000 to the medical center.
Van is seeking unspecified damages. His attorney says it’s unclear when the jury trial might start. (AP)