State, fired Allagash manager settle suit

The state paid $70,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by the former manager of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, according to documents obtained by the Bangor Daily News under the Maine Freedom of Access law.

Tim Caverly, who claimed he was unjustly fired, was awarded $48,000, and his lawyer will get $22,000. The case was filed late last year after Caverly was forced from his job as manager of the waterway, a position he held for 18 years.

Caverly took early retirement in June 1999 after his superiors at the Department of Conservation said his employment would be terminated because he did not follow orders, and because he mistreated subordinates.

Caverly, who worked for the state for 33 years, had been an outspoken advocate for preserving the “wilderness character” of the Allagash and he was an outspoken opponent of the conservation department’s decision to allow access to the waterway at John’s Bridge between Eagle and Churchill lakes.

One prominent state lawmaker was upset by the settlement because, he said, it sends a bad message to other state employees that they can challenge personnel decisions and be financially rewarded.

“Why should you reward people if they are fireable,” said Sen. John Martin, D-Eagle Lake, Thursday. “The state doesn’t fire many people. If we do fire them, it should stick.”

Martin said he did not know if there was a legislative solution to this problem. But at the least, the Department of Conservation should review its policies to ensure that if it decides to fire someone, it does so on solid grounds so that it does not later end up in court and then decide to settle a case with financial compensation.

Chris Taub, an assistant attorney general, said he was not aware of other instances of state employees being fired and then settling a lawsuit with the state.

Martin and Caverly have clashed over the waterway for years. Caverly has accused Martin, who owns property near the waterway, of trying to run the Allagash as his own private playground. Martin accused Caverly of running the Allagash to serve his own vision, not how state law mandated it be run.

Martin, then a state representative, introduced a bill last year to make the Allagash manager’s job an appointed position. The bill was put on hold to give the department time to deal with a myriad of personnel issues. Caverly was put on a “management plan” that laid out areas in which he needed to improve. He was forced out a few months later.

Caverly filed a lawsuit and grievance with the state employee’s union. A series of arbitration hearings was under way when the settlement was reached.

Caverly, who now is the Maine director for a national whistleblower’s group, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said Thursday he chose to settle the suit rather than drag out the legal wrangling for another year or more. He said he believed he had a strong case that led to the state’s willingness to settle.

As for the amount of the settlement, Caverly said he was out of work for a year. In addition, he said it’s hard to put a price tag on what he lost.

The most important part of the settlement, he said, was the accompanying letter from Commissioner of Conservation Ronald Lovaglio acknowledging Caverly’s “thirty-three years of dedication and hard work in striving to preserve Maine’s valuable natural resources, including the Allagash Wilderness Waterway.” Caverly requested such a letter as one of the terms.

Under the agreement, Caverly has already been paid $24,000 and will receive another check for the same amount in January. His attorney, Susan Wallace of Brunswick, was paid $22,000 by the state.