A former Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission worker received an award for whistleblowing, after a state judged agreed that he had been fired for wrongful purposes.

The whistleblowing award was in the amount of $3.2 million, after it was ruled he was fired for blowing the whistle on his company’s alleged corrupt bidding practices at the agency.

The award for whistleblowing had been handed to plaintiff Ralph Bailets, a former financial and systems manager for the commission, after a Commonwealth Court judge ruled he was terminated after repeatedly asking questions of the company’s bidding conduct.

The questions revolved around whether or not a contractor had been given an unfair advantage, in regards to placing bids on work.

After reviewing the allegations, Judge Rochelle Friedman agreed to give Bailets an award for whistleblowing.

Bailets presented testimony of his inability to find a new job with similar pay, as well as the emotional distress he had suffered from his work termination.

During his testimony, Bailets had presented evidence that his reputation had been harmed and that he had suffered mental anguish due to the sudden termination.

Furthermore there was evidence that the company had placed various stresses on Bailets’ personal life, as he questioned if it was worth reporting the company in light of the suffering he and his family had gone through.

According to the whistleblower lawsuit, Bailets had worked for the commission for ten years before being fired in November 2008.

He and 14 other coworkers were terminated, which was explained based on the company’s current budget needs.

Overview of Qui Tam Lawsuit

Bailets had filed a qui tam lawsuit in May 2009, claiming that he had been fired after questioning the bidding practices between the commission and the vendor Ciber, Inc.

According to this claim, Bailets alleged Ciber had been given priority in the bidding process for a 2005 contract by being given unlimited access to bid documents.

After notifying his work superior of this behavior, Bailets was allegedly told “not to make any waves” or he could be fired.

Bailets not only claimed the Ciber was given an unfair advantage in the bidding process, the contractor did not even adequately perform its duties.

Furthermore, Bailets alleged Ciber had attempted to wait out the contract, in order to get a new contract to complete the unfinished work deliberately left over from the previous job.

Judge Friedman had initially dismissed the whistleblower lawsuit in February 2014, after finding several contractions between the economic conditions the commission faced at the time and the time of Bailets’ termination.

The Supreme Court revived this whistleblower lawsuit in September 2015, after confirming two other turnpike officials had warned Bailets he would be given trouble if he reported his suspicions.

Attorneys involved in the qui tam lawsuit are very pleased with this outcome, and state that Bailets had earned the award for whistleblowing.

“This very important decision by the court affirms the protections afforded to public employees who report waste and wrongdoing in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. [W]e are very pleased for Ralph Bailets and his family,” the attorney stated.

The Qui Tam Lawsuit is Ralph Bailets v. Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission et al., Case No. 265 MD 2009, in the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court.