In California, a whistle-blower lawsuit against Recology, a large waste management and recycling company, will be given a jury trial.
In 2009, Brian McVeigh filed a lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court alleging that Recology, which employed him as a supervisor in the Bay Area, illegally fired him in retaliation for complaining about other employees who were defrauding the state’s bottle bill program.
According to documents in the case, McVeigh witnessed employees overpaying customers who brought in bottles and cans at a Recology redemption center, in addition to other unscrupulous activities.
McVeigh’s suit sought redress under the state’s whistle-blower protection law, but had his case dismissed by the San Francisco Superior Court. In January of this year, an appeals court partially reversed the decision by the lower court, ruling that he did have a case under the state’s whistle-blower protection law.
On April 4, 2013, the appeals court formally sent the case back to the lower court. David Anton, an attorney for McVeigh, told Resource Recycling that he expects the trial to occur within a year. Both sides have asked to have the trial held in May of next year, he said.
Recology did not return a request seeking comment.