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Whistleblower wants university to pay for termination harassment

A former UA employee is suing the university, claiming wrongful termination after repeated harassment reportedly forced him from his job.

In a Pima County Superior Court trial that began last week and continues today, former University of Arizona health physicist Peter Capin is seeking damages for lost wages and emotional distress, according to the legal complaint.

Capin filed the lawsuit in 1997, claiming that he was harassed by several of his colleagues and superiors in the university's Radiation Control Office after he complained about unsafe radiation practices.

He is seeking compensation for "permanent physical and emotional injuries" as well as loss of earnings - an indeterminate amount.

Assistant Attorney General Charles Pyle, the UA's defense attorney in the case, declined comment because of the pending trial. UA officials refused to discuss the case.

Capin claimed that he was forcibly discharged from his position in radiation safety in 1996 after being subjected to threats, rumors and lies during his five-year employment.

The lawsuit stated that the harassment was a direct result of several complaints he made to his superiors and government agencies about the UA's improper use of dosimeters - badges that monitor radiation levels.

Capin, also a UA graduate, made several complaints to the Arizona Radiation Regulatory Agency and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 1995, legal documents stated.

The lawsuit stated that several high-ranking UA employees - including RCO Director Charles Sondhaus and Michael Cusanovich, former vice president of research and graduate studies - were aware of UA's radiation control violations and kept quiet.

Cusanovich ordered Capin not to notify any agencies without his permission, according to Capin's legal complaint, filed by attorney Silas Shultz, of Shultz and Rollins Ltd.

Records stated that Capin's whistleblowing caused him to be "frozen out" and subjected to "humiliation, embarrassment, mental and emotional and physical distress."

The complaint stated that during his employment at the RCO, several of Capin's co-workers accused him of issuing threats, "casting an evil spell" on his colleagues and sexually harassing another employee.

Following his discharge, the UA Dispute Resolution Panel held a hearing to evaluate Capin's complaints against the RCO.

According to the panel's decision, as cited by Capin's attorney, his superiors subjected him to harassment and retaliation for his whistleblowing.

Following the hearing, the UA offered Capin his job back, but he declined.

Aubrey Godwin, the state radiation regulatory association director, acknowledged Capin's 1995 complaints, but his agency did not necessarily agree with all of his claims against the RCO.

"Some we supported; others we didn't agree with," Godwin said.

He said at least one of Capin's claims was pursued, and that other investigations are on hold because of the lawsuit.

The UA's violations were considered "severity level three," and they were forced to submit a corrective action plan to the ARRA, Godwin said.

"There might be one or two (investigations) still pending," he added.

But George Humphrey, a spokesman for the Arizona Health Sciences Center, said the RCO is now fully compliant.

"Since that time (of Capin's discharge), the Health Sciences Center has implemented a comprehensive program to monitor the use of dosimeters," Humphrey said.

He added that many efforts were made before Capin's complaints were filed, including additional radiation safety courses for physicians in 1994 and a new radiation dosimeter policy in 1995.

Additionally, a disciplinary program was added in 1997 to punish employees who failed to return dosimeters for monitoring.

"Surveillance has been increased to ensure that staff members are complying with dosimetry policy," Humphrey said. "The Arizona Health Sciences Center has the most comprehensive radiation training program as any health care organization in the state."

Humphrey said the new dosimetry policies and procedures are not necessarily related to Capin or his complaints.

"There were some steps being taken as early as 1994," he said. "I wouldn't want to connect the two."