Hearing set in claim of ex-chief’s wrongful firing

BOISE – Fired Idaho Transportation Director Pam Lowe will get a hearing in July on her bid to grant the core of her wrongful-firing claims in a partial judgment.

U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Ron Bush scheduled arguments for July 21 on Lowe’s motion, which contests the state’s claim that she was merely an “at-will” employee who could be fired at any time, for any reason or no reason.

Lowe’s lawyers, in court documents filed last week, contend the state, in its arguments against her motion, misconstrued case law, overlooked clear rulings from the Idaho Supreme Court that an employee isn’t considered at-will if the law limits the reasons for which she can be fired, and failed to address a legislative statement of purpose for the 1974 law that says an Idaho Transportation Department director “shall serve at the pleasure of the board and may be removed by the board for inefficiency, neglect of duty, malfeasance or nonfeasance in office.” In the statement, submitted to the court earlier by Lowe’s lawyers, legislators said the director “shall serve at the pleasure of the board and may be removed by the board only for stated cause.”

The state contends the list of reasons for firing merely provides examples, and the important part of the law is that the director serves “at the pleasure of the board.”

Idaho’s Transportation Board cited none of the reasons from the law when it fired Lowe last year, instead saying her firing would improve “customer service, economy of operations, accountability and our relations with the Legislature.” She contends she was fired for refusing to scale back a hefty contract with politically well-connected firms and that she was targeted for her gender; she was the first woman to head the department, and has now been replaced by a man who’s being paid $22,000 a year more than she was.

Acting guv won’t

‘do too much’

Senate President Pro-Tem Bob Geddes was serving as acting governor last week when he signed disaster emergency declarations for Adams, Idaho and Valley counties due to flooding. The reason: Gov. Butch Otter was on a trade mission to China, and Lt. Gov. Brad Little was in New York with state Treasurer Ron Crane, on Crane’s annual trip to negotiate the state’s bond ratings.

Geddes said he figures he’s served as acting governor 30 or 40 times in the last 10 years. If he’s not in the state, the role falls to the Speaker of the House. Said Geddes, “You can do about anything you want as acting governor, but you’d better not do too much.”

Jobless rate down

for third month

Idaho’s seasonally adjusted unemployment dropped for the third straight month in May, after 31 straight monthly rate increases going all the way back to August of 2007.

May’s rate was down a tenth of a percentage point to 9 percent, which compares favorably to the national rate, which dropped two-tenths of a point to 9.7 percent in May. “The decline was modest, but it continues what appears to be a downward trend and another sign the worst of the recession may be past,” said Idaho Department of Labor Senior Analyst Eduardo Silva.

Independent’s ballot woes

Jana Kemp, independent candidate for governor, says she was surprised to hear from some supporters that they were disappointed they couldn’t find her name on the May primary election ballot. “They said things like this: ‘I looked for you on the ballot and you weren’t there,’” she said.

Independents, of course, don’t participate in the May party primaries; they go directly to the general election ballot in November.

Kemp is one of two independents running for governor; the other is “Pro-Life,” the candidate formerly known as Marvin Richardson before he changed his name to the slogan.

Kemp, a Boise businesswoman, author and former GOP state representative, is one of five candidates on the ballot for governor; they are the party primary winners – incumbent GOP Gov. Otter and Democratic challenger Keith Allred – along with the two independents and a Libertarian, Ted Dunlap, of Kuna.

Court: Can’t drug-test parents

The Idaho Supreme Court has ruled that an Idaho state law authorized a state magistrate judge to order random drug tests of the parents of a youngster who was placed on juvenile probation for two counts of petit theft, but that the requirement violated the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure.

The parents “do not have a diminished expectation of privacy in their bodies simply because their daughter is on juvenile probation,” the court held in a unanimous opinion authorized by Justice Warren Jones. The court upheld an earlier ruling by the Idaho Court of Appeals in the case, State v. Doe, and overturned a district court ruling from Kootenai County upholding the urinalysis requirement.

The high court’s opinion goes on at length about how there was proper statutory authority for a magistrate to order the tests under Idaho state law, in part because “drug use by a minor’s parents could reasonably detract from the minor’s education and rehabilitation.” But then, it notes, there’s that constitutional problem.