Ex-Manager Says State Destroyed Evidence Official Denies Charge, Says Documents Not Easily Retrieved In Computer

The fired manager of the agency that handles damage claims against the state accused the Batt administration on Thursday of destroying evidence he contends would prove he was wrongly dismissed and denied unemployment compensation.

But Director of Administration Pam Ahrens immediately denied the charge, saying the information Ed Fridenstine wants is still in the state computer system although it cannot be easily retrieved.

Fridenstine was dismissed as head of the state’s Risk Management Bureau last winter after a lengthy - and confidential - investigation that also resulted in the dismissal of Al Campbell, who oversaw the fund used to reimburse worker’s compensation recipients suffering new injuries. That inquiry involved allegations that Campbell had used his office for personnel gain.

Both Fridenstine and Campbell have filed damage claims against the state over their firings, and each is challenging the state’s action before the Personnel Commission.

In his claim, Fridenstine contended he was fired because he had implicated former Gov. Cecil Andrus in the allegedly illegal firing of a clerk in the claims operation. He maintained the clerk, Shauna Julian, was dismissed because of drug and battery charges filed against her husband, Brian Julian, whose law firm has collected hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in fees for representing the state in damage claim cases overseen by both Fridenstine and Campbell.

The petition filed by Fridenstine on Thursday charged the state with destroying all computer communications he received last year from his supervisor Barbara Porter while preserving the computer notes Fridenstine sent to Porter, who no longer works for the department.

“The negligent or intentional destruction of evidence will make more difficult the proving” of Fridenstine’s wrongful firing case, the claim said. It wants guarantees that no more documents will be destroyed until his claim is settled.