Kline & Specter Personal Injury Blog

Mark Holmes didn't win a huge award in his whistleblower case but, as the Naples (Florida) News put it, "it sure beats cleaning toilets." Holmes, a Collier County EMS Medflight pilot, was awarded $70,000 by a federal jury on his claim that he was demoted to latrine and other menial duties after complaining to county officials about workplace safety, maintenance and management in 2007. He alleged that the demotion came in retaliation for putting his gripes in writing and he decided to file a federal whistleblower suit. The verdict in U.S. District Court, despite being something less than a windfall, was "total vindication," Holmes' lawyer, Sam Gold, told the newspaper. "Three years of fighting to speak out finally had a positive result in the end." The seven-member jury found after a three-day trial that Holmes should be awarded compensatory damages for his demotion to EMT, which meant a $10.74 hourly pay cut and job duties such as cleaning toilets, taking out trash and stuffing folders. To learn more about whistleblower lawsuits, visit our whistleblower website.

Labels: Whistleblower Lawsuits