A former probation officer is suing Arrowhead Regional Corrections, alleging he was fired for complaining about fees the organization charges.
Jay Little was fired in August after 23 years as a probation officer. He's asking the court to order the corrections agency to rehire him and pay him back wages. No court date has been set in the suit, which was filed Monday in Carlton County.
"We're not going to make any comments on the Jay Little suit," ARC Executive Director Tom Roy said.
Dale Harris, an attorney with St. Louis County, represents ARC in the case. He did not immediately return a call seeking comment. ARC provides correctional services to Carlton, Cook, Koochiching, Lake and St. Louis counties. It is administered by an executive board composed of eight county commissioners from the five counties.
Little's attorney, Paul Lelii of St. Paul, said the matter is a case of a whistler-blower being fired after raising concerns about how ARC was operating.
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"Mr. Little had complained for a number of years that ARC was not appropriately charging people on probation the proper fees," Lelii said. "He had a good faith belief that they were violating the law."
State law doesn't require Lelii to prove that ARC was not appropriately charging people, he said, but only that Little honestly believed that ARC might be doing something wrong and that he reported it.
"There is documentation of him making a report," Lelii said. "My feeling is if an employee complains about something and you're not doing anything wrong, you sit down with the employee and go over it with them and get them back to their post."
Instead, Lelii said, ARC's reaction was to come up with reasons to fire Little.
"None are legitimate," Lelii said. "We just want our day in court and let the rule of law rule. And if Mr. Little is entitled to relief, the court will give it to him."
