Met Council engineer sues his employer, saying it illegally inflated cost of Southwest LRT

An engineer who worked on the troubled $2.9 billion Southwest light-rail line claims in a federal lawsuit he was demoted and his career sabotaged by the Metropolitan Council because he called out "unlawful activity" responsible for massive cost overruns.

Michael Janish, a University of Minnesota-trained civil engineer, worked as the project controls manager on the 14.5-mile line linking Minneapolis and Eden Prairie between 2015 and 2022. It was his job to prevent waste, fraud and abuse on the taxpayer-financed light rail line - the largest public works project in Minnesota history.

But when Janish reported "unlawful activity" to his supervisors, they opted to "line the pockets" of the construction company building the line instead of complying with the law, according to a 57-page lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis last November.

https://www.startribune.com/met-council-engineer-sues-his-employer-saying-it-illegally-inflated-cost-of-southwest-lrt/600338590/