MEA terminations prove costly

Two longtime Matanuska Electric Association employees who were improperly fired by MEA were recently awarded $650,000 as a settlement in lieu of a lawsuit possibly headed for trial. The two employees were fired at the direction of the board without regard to the provisions of their employment contracts. The total cost to the association for this decision could be well over $1 million once all the attorney fees and other costs are added up.

Waiting in the wings is another lawsuit concerning the previous manager and his termination. The cost of this additional employee discharge will most likely exceed $2 million. This lawsuit, too, is the result of the MEA board’s disregard for a legitimate employment contract.

Our membership should not have to pay for damages caused by a board that flagrantly violated its contractual obligations. Rather, those board members who forced the violation should make the association whole for its losses. Please note that the board majority at the time of the firings was Lois Lester, Kit Jones, Janet Kincaid, Katie Hurley and Peter Burchell. Each of these individuals should be forced to personally repay MEA for all unnecessary costs attributed to their actions. The board may try to argue that the cost to the membership is nothing because MEA liability insurance will pay the bill. This may be true, but an insurance payment does not remove the guilt of their contract violations. An insurance payment proves their guilt by triggering errors and omissions. Insurance companies get their money back over time. We all know that when we have a fender bender and our rates go up as a result. In the end, the membership will still pay the $650,000.

There is no question that the board has the right to terminate any MEA employee at any time for cause. It also has the right to terminate any management personnel it wishes for any reason. The board has the right to terminate an employment contract at any time, but it must be done in accordance with the terms of the contract. Lester, Kincaid and the others chose to ignore the terms of legitimate employment contracts, thereby exposing MEA to unnecessary lawsuits and big attorney bills. The net result is that the discharged employees are receiving the compensation guaranteed them in their employment contracts in the first place and the MEA membership is footing the bill for a whole passel of lawyers on top of it all.

What is patently obvious is that the firings were akin to an execution and not based on any lack of proper business management on the part of the employees. There was no “for cause” reason involved. In fact, the terminations occurred using the term “without cause.” No charges were leveled and no explanation was given for the firings. The whole affair smacks of a South American revolution where the opposition is lined up against the wall and summarily shot.

Firings of this type are usually a cover-up for a vendetta being conducted by those who have a personal axe to grind. This may very well be the case here. We shall see as this story unfolds.

Aaron Downing is Palmer resident and a past Matanuska Electric Association director.