Ex-Idaho transportation worker files lawsuit over firing

A former Idaho Transportation Department employee alleges in a lawsuit that he was fired after notifying a federal agency about possible nuclear violations.

The Idaho Statesman reported Sunday John Christopher Turner’s lawsuit says the department terminated him in violation of Idaho’s whistleblower law after he raised concerns about the department’s nuclear density gauge program.

The Idaho Office of Risk Management, which is handling the care for the transportation department, says it doesn’t comment on pending litigation.

Turner was terminated two weeks before the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission sent a notice of violation to the department in 2017.

Turner was concerned about tools that contain a radiation source.

He says there were inconsistencies in the department’s records and that he was only able to account for 82 out of 104 gauges.