Fired employee sues COD

A former College of DuPage employee filed a federal suit alleging unfair termination Wednesday, stating he was fired for complaining about work conditions during a rehab project at the college.

Joel Cardella of Lombard filed the suit in U.S. District Court. According to the filing, Cardella was employed at the college for seven years, rising to art studio laboratory technician, and got positive performance evaluations on his annual reviews, until he began to complain about work conditions surrounding the renovation of the McAninch Arts Center in the mid-2000s.

The suit claims that superiors began to find fault in his work then, and that he was suspended without pay at the end of 2007 for violating a college gag order. He was fired last April, a month after making more complaints to the human resources director, who asked, "Are you trying to get fired?" according to the suit.

The suit insists Cardella's complaints "were made in good faith and out of concern for the health and safety of the students and faculty" and claims protection under the Illinois Whistleblower Reward and Protection Act. It seeks compensatory and punitive damages and asks he be reinstated. It names the college's board of trustees and administrators Sunil Chand, Robert Breuder, Wendolyn Tetlow and Alain Hentschel.