Former state workers sues state

COLUMBUS ­ A former legislative employee alleges in a lawsuit filed against the state that officials harassed him and used covert methods to prevent him from releasing a school-funding report.

Matthew Wells says he was discharged from his job as a statistics researcher at the Legislative Service Commission, which he claims violated the state's whistle-blower law.

The suit accuses the state of "clandestine, covert and largely illegal methods" in preventing Wells from delivering a report that was important to the decade-old school-funding case before the Ohio Supreme Court.

Wells' suit was filed the last week of April in the Ohio Court of Claims in Franklin County, which exists for claims against the state.

He is seeking $5.1 million in damages. The state and the Legislative Service Commission, a bipartisan agency that drafts legislation and analyzes the cost of proposed bills, are named as defendants.

Agency Director James Burley said Saturday his office had not been served with the lawsuit. He declined to comment until he has a chance to review the allegations firsthand.

The study detailed how costs borne by schools, sometimes called unfunded mandates, could cost school districts more than $500 million annually.

The report was supposed to be released in October 2000 but never was delivered to the Legislature.

Wells' work confirmed the findings of an Ohio Supreme Court ruling in May 2000 that said the state made school funding worse by passing a long list of unfunded mandates in 1997.

Wells went public with the report as the state headed back to court in June 2001, planning to argue the unfunded mandates either were fixed or never existed.

He never returned to work, saying he feared for his safety.

Wells, who has a research doctorate from Kent State University, also claims his reputation was damaged and he suffered psychological injuries during his 16 months with the agency.

Marc Dann, Wells' attorney, said the agency violated Wells' privacy by revealing confidential information about his medical history to the public.

After a meeting of the commission when legislators called for an investigation of why the report was not released, former agency Director Robert Shapiro indicated to reporters that Wells had mental problems and tried to commit suicide.

Wells admits that he suffered from bouts of depression and has said he was hospitalized at one point after attempting to commit suicide.