Lane Community College is being sued by a former instructor who says he was fired in a retaliatory move after reporting alleged ethical violations involving a colleague.

Frank Plaisted is seeking $200,000 in compensatory damages. He filed the lawsuit June 16 in Lane County Circuit Court.

Plaisted alleges LCC officials subjected him to a bogus administrative investigation before terminating his employment in July 2015. Plaisted had worked as a business instructor and adviser since September 2009, the lawsuit says.

Plaisted’s troubles at work apparently began in mid-2014. That’s when he told Jim Lindly, director of the Lane Small Business Development Center, that he believed another instructor had violated a state ethics law, according to the lawsuit.

Lindly subsequently admonished Plaisted for contacting the Oregon Government Ethics Commission with his concerns about the other instructor, and prohibited Plaisted from further contact with the state commission out of concern it would begin “sniffing around” the business development center, the lawsuit alleges.

LCC provides the bulk of funding for the development center, which is part of the college’s downtown campus. The center provides training and other services for local businesses and their employees, according to its website.

The instructor Plaisted had complained about, Nick Wiley, did not return telephone messages this week seeking comment on Plaisted’s allegations. Wiley is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, which does not specify the nature of the ethics complaint.

LCC spokeswoman Joan Aschim declined to discuss the lawsuit and said the college generally does not comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit alleges Lindly threatened to dismiss Plaisted in October 2014, then reduced Plaisted’s working hours and assigned some of his job duties to other employees.

Plaisted says in the lawsuit that he reported to other LCC officials in early 2015 that Lindly was retaliating against him for reporting the alleged ethical breach.

The college issued Plaisted a written reprimand in June 2015 and suspended him with pay. His employment was terminated less than a month later, according to the lawsuit.

Plaisted’s lawsuit does not say anything about the reprimand’s subject but asserts LCC officials gave an “untrue” reason for issuing it to him.

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