AUGUSTA — Maine has agreed to pay $65,000 to a state employee who claimed she was demoted last year after testifying before a legislative committee during her vacation about the dangers of chemicals to children.
The state admits no wrongdoing in the settlement signed April 19 with Andrea Lani, who works for the Department of Environmental Protection.
The Bangor Daily News reports that the agreement requires the state to provide training to supervisors about the law that prohibits retaliation against employees who testify before the Legislature.
The Whitefield woman filed suit in October in U.S. District Court in Bangor alleging she was the victim of retaliation by Commissioner Patricia Aho and Ronald Dyer, director of the DEP’s bureau of remediation and waste management.
Lani said her free speech rights were violated.
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