Kentucky Bridge Bribe Case Involves More Than Inspectors
The former resident engineer on a Kentucky bridge painting project where federal agents have charged an inspector with taking kickbacks has requested records of his complaints about the corruption allegedly made to more senior staff members of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. He claims that those complaints were ignored and that he was penalized for making them.
The engineer, Ron Gardner, has filed a lawsuit in state court in Frankfort under the state whistleblower's law. He claims he was demoted after reporting that bridge inspectors solicited bribes, padded timesheets and accepted substandard materials on the John F. Kennedy Bridge at Louisville. A grand jury last month indicted inspector Kevin Lee Earles in connection with the scheme.