A former Medford airport employee won a whistleblower lawsuit against Jackson County this week after claiming she was fired for disclosing that some airport security workers had slept while on duty and others didn't have proper training.

"This trial focused on an epidemic of problems of security officers sleeping on the job," said Medford attorney Thad Guyer, who represented Lynda Longfellow, a former airport parking enforcement officer.

The suit contended that Longfellow, who lives in Butte Falls, had been retaliated against by her superiors, infringing on her First Amendment right to free speech and expression.

The six-woman, one-man jury in U.S. District Court awarded Longfellow $365,000 in damages on Wednesday after reviewing evidence including a state report that the county-owned airport had hired 19 security people without the proper training or certification in 2004 and 2005.

Longfellow, according to court documents, reported that eight security officers had slept on the job. She raised other issues, including suspicions that security personnel may have used drugs or alcohol on the job.

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Longfellow said this week the problems at the airport had been covered up for too long.

"It's a shame when people speak out and are punished for it," she said. "I'm glad it's over."

The case raised a host of issues at the airport:

• A notice of intent to assess a $19,000 civil penalty for using uncertified workers was issued by the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training in August 2005. Jackson County has contested the penalty.
• According to a report issued by the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training, Airport Security Supervisor Brian Gebhard had been warned in October 2003 that there were security workers who didn't have the proper certification.
• Two airport security personnel were fired for sleeping on the job and another employee was fired after the theft of a laptop computer.
• An unidentified individual passed an unknown item through the security fence to a passenger boarding a plane, leading airport officials to install a screen to prevent similar incidents.
• In 2004, the federal Transportation Security Administration told airport officials that if they would agree to fix the problems, they would not face a federal fine.

Mike Jewett, an Ashland attorney representing the county, said he was surprised by the jury's decision and would file a motion with District Court Judge Owen Panner to reduce the damage award.

Jewett said Longfellow wasn't fired because she was a whistleblower.

"Our position was that she was fired for misconduct," he said, declining to elaborate on the details of the misconduct.

Jewett also said the issues raised in the trial have been resolved.

"This is describing things that happened two years ago," he said. "This is a safe airport."

In a transcript of testimony given by Airport Director Bern Case, who was named in the suit, he denied that the problems had resulted in the airport being placed on probation.

"We have never been placed on probation for a security item, ever," Case testified.

However, responding to a question from Guyer, Gebhard, the security supervisor, agreed that the airport had been put under "some kind of probation" and that TSA officials had expressed concern about employees sleeping on the job.

Case said after the jury decision he couldn't respond to questions about the case. "I would like to talk about it, but it's not appropriate because all the action is not completed," he said.

Jewett said the airport wasn't placed under "formal probation."

He said the 19 employees had been certified by TSA, but not by the state. The security personnel in question were hired by Jackson County and were not TSA employees.

Stephani Ayers, a Seattle attorney who works with Guyer, said TSA conducts background checks on employees but doesn't do the training or testing required by the state.

Guyer said the problems at the airport should be a matter of serious community concern.

"The status of security at the Medford airport needs an audit by an outside firm," he said.

Longfellow said she's relieved to finally have her name cleared by a jury.

Despite the legal battle, she said, "I loved my job and I wouldn't mind going back there."

Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476 or dmann@mailtribune.com.