Whistle-Blower Sues Sanitation District

A government whistle-blower sued the Orange County Sanitation Districts and several top executives Wednesday, accusing them of engaging in retaliatory discipline and defamation.

Louis Sangermano, the sanitation agency’s laboratory manager, charged that officials have repeatedly refused to allow him to return from a medical leave, even though his personal doctor has cleared him of any medical problems.

When he tried to return in May, sanitation agency officials locked him out of his laboratory, Sangermano claimed in the lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court.

The suit alleges that Sangermano’s work troubles began in May when he decided to help state authorities and local prosecutors in an investigation of possible improprieties by the agency in connection with a fire earlier. The fire killed two workers at the sanitation agency’s Huntington Beach sewage-treatment plant.

The district attorney’s office has since confirmed that it is considering possible criminal charges.