The man who oversaw Southwest Light Rail Transit project controls and flagged potential illegal cost manipulation by the Metropolitan Council is now accusing his employer of retaliation, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court.
The plaintiff, Michael Janish, worked as an engineer on contract administration, project management and coordination in the public and private sectors for more than two decades and was the SWLRT project controls manager for seven years.
As part of his job with SWLRT, Janish was charged, in part, with ensuring the 14.5-mile Green Line extension complied with Federal Transit Administration requirements for a full funding grant — including a stipulation that the application for federal funding accurately reflects the timetable and cost of the project.
In his lawsuit, Janish claims he was transferred away from his role in SWLRT and suffered an effective demotion after he repeatedly raised concerns that the agency was artificially inflating costs on the project and was breaking its agreement with the federal government by doing so.
He alleges Met Council leadership — including SWLRT Project Director Jim Alexander, SWLRT Deputy Project Director Joan Hollick and Director of Construction Brian Runzel — “did not want to push for compliance” from the outset and went ahead with the federal grant application without establishing a full baseline schedule for the...
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