Hopple alleged the agency did not protect him from retaliation after he filed a whistleblower complaint in 2019 over safety concerns. According to court documents, these included a work order being closed before it was completed, which contributed to a fire at a substation, as well as employees not documenting maintenance work properly. An investigation initiated by Sound Transit later validated some of Hopple’s complaints.
“Instead of protecting Mr. Hopple from retaliation, Sound Transit supervisors’ treatment of Mr. Hopple only worsened; they ignored him at meetings, ridiculed him in front of colleagues, and denied him the support necessary to do his job,” Hopple’s lawyers wrote in court documents.
Several times during his tenure, which lasted until February 2020, Hopple raised safety concerns to his supervisors – who, Hopple said, ignored them or suggested he “drop it,” according to his lawsuit.
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Sound Transit declined to respond to questions or offer comment, instead referring Crosscut to the whistleblower complaint investigation and board meeting presentation made by then-CEO Peter Rogoff in late 2021. Dow Constantine, King County Executive and chair of the Sound Transit Board, also declined to comment.
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