Topeka — The state Supreme Court has reinstated a lawsuit filed by a former Department of Revenue attorney over his May 1997 firing, but the justices narrowed the scope of his case.
David Prager III, Topeka, sued for monetary damages and reinstatement to his job, claiming the department violated his free speech rights and that his firing was illegal because he was a whistle-blower
Prager lost his job after he sent a 12-page memo to Gov. Bill Graves in the fall of 1996, defending his handling of tax cases for the department and raising questions about the agency's operations.
Shawnee County District Judge Terry Bullock dismissed the lawsuit, concluding that Prager's remedy was an appeal to the state Civil Service Board, which Prager also pursued.
In a unanimous decision Friday, the Supreme Court said Prager's case should have gone to trial on whether he should get his job back. Also, the justices said, Prager must be allowed to pursue damages from the state over his claim that he didn't get a prompt administrative hearing after his firing.
However, the court refused to reinstate Prager's other claims. The court said the options of fired state employees are limited by Kansas law.
"State employment comes with benefits, but it is also necessary for the general public good that employees accept limitations that insure a workable system," Justice Edward Larson wrote for the court.
The state Civil Service Board earlier this year ruled against Prager's challenge of his firing. Prager's appeal of that ruling remains in Shawnee County District Court.
Prager, who was the department's chief corporate tax attorney, became a lightning rod for criticism in 1996 after a national business magazine warned companies to expect harsh treatment from the department.
In his letter that year to Graves which the governor said he never read Prager charged that top revenue officials had yielded to political pressure and illegally settled tax disputes with big corporations.
Then-Revenue Secretary John LaFaver called the allegations "mere fantasy." Because the memo contained confidential information about taxpayers, LaFaver said, Prager was guilty of misconduct.
Prager contends he was fired for a good-faith attempt to report illegal activity to the governor.
In refusing to allow Prager to seek monetary damages for the alleged violation of his free speech rights, the Supreme Court said that neither Kansas law nor state court decisions have allowed such damages in lawsuits filed against individuals.
But the Supreme Court said the state is not immune from having an official sued in Prager's case, the secretary of revenue to have a firing overturned.
The court said the record in Prager's case was not sufficiently complete for Bullock to dismiss the claim about not getting a prompt administrative hearing.
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