A former Frankstown Township employee says in a federal lawsuit that he was terminated last year for expressing concerns over the municipality’s lack of safety protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chris Bennett Jr. was a laborer for the township in 2020 and 2021.

He stated in the lawsuit that in March 2021, five township employees tested positive for the virus but were permitted to return to work within three or four days, despite Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommending a 10-day quarantine for those testing positive.

“Mr. Bennett Jr. was distressed by the defendant’s lack of safety protocols during the pandemic and his potential exposure to COVID-19 while working,” according to his filing in the U.S. District Court in Johnstown.

He expressed his concerns to supervisors George Henry, Kenneth Wertz and James Callahan, and on March 22, 2021, he and two other employees presented doctor’s notes indicating they should not return to work for 10 days or until the employees who tested positive no longer had the disease.

Henry, the supervisors chairman, did not approve Bennett taking time off and did not offer Bennett any time off under the federal Family Medical Leave Act.

When Bennett returned to work, he was asked to sign a disciplinary write-up indicating he had taken unexcused absences.

When he would not do that, he was terminated from his job on July 7, 2021.

Firing Bennett violated the Family Medical Leave Act, the U.S. Civil Rights Act, the First Amendment...

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