Missouri judge dismisses whistleblower lawsuit against top Republican lawmaker

Kacen Bayless, The Kansas City Star on Dec 11, 2024

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Cole County judge on Wednesday dismissed a whistleblower lawsuit filed against the Missouri House speaker that alleged he used his power to retaliate against a top employee of the House.

Cole County Associate Circuit Judge Brian Stumpe, in a one page order, rejected the lawsuit, which Dana Miller, chief clerk of the House, filed against House Speaker Dean Plocher, a Des Peres Republican. Stumpe, in a separate order, also dismissed the House from the suit.

“After considering the briefing submitted by the parties and after hearing oral argument, the Court GRANTS Defendant Plocher’s motion to dismiss, and dismisses him with prejudice from this lawsuit,” Stumpe wrote.

Stumpe’s dismissal with prejudice means that the decision is final and cannot be appealed. Plocher and Miller did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.

The lawsuit alleged a damning portrait of Plocher, arguing that he threatened and retaliated against Miller and other House staffers amid a slew of scandals Plocher faced in his final session as speaker.

Prior to the lawsuit, those scandals — which included Plocher’s expenses and efforts to steer an expensive technology contract to the House — resulted in a months-long ethics investigation that was ultimately dropped.

Plocher’s chief of staff, Rod Jetton, another former House speaker, was also named as a defendant in the suit but was dismissed in October.

Stumpe’s decision signaled that he agreed with arguments laid out by Plocher’s attorneys, who argued that the top Republican did not have power to fire Miller and that she was never fired. Plocher’s attorneys also argued in court filings that Miller did not disclose information that would make her a whistleblower.

The months-long ethics investigation and subsequent allegations against Plocher had consumed the Missouri Capitol during the most recent legislative session and sparked calls for his resignation.

It’s unclear how the dismissal might affect the upcoming session, which starts next month, during which lawmakers will elect a new speaker. Plocher is set to term out of the House and won’t return to Jefferson City next month.

Lawsuit detailed Plocher scandals

Miller’s lawsuit detailed concerns among House staffers, and some lawmakers, in 2023 about Plocher’s push for the House to issue a roughly $800,000 technology contract to an outside company to handle constituent information.

The lawsuit also focused on how Plocher received nearly $4,000 in government reimbursements for travel expenses his campaign had already paid for, a revelation that was a central focus of the ethics investigation.

Before Plocher’s reimbursements became public, the lawsuit alleged that House staff tried to reject several of Plocher’s reimbursement requests. He pushed back and asked for exemptions to House policies, the lawsuit said.

Miller filed the lawsuit roughly a month after the Missouri House Ethics Committee dismissed a complaint of ethical misconduct against Plocher in a tense and chaotic meeting. While the complaint was dismissed, the committee’s chair alleged that Plocher and his supporters obstructed the investigation and intimidated witnesses.

Plocher was quick to claim victory after the committee dismissed the ethics complaint, claiming to be a victim of a “bureaucratic revolt.” He compared himself to President-elect Donald Trump among other Republican officials.

“We now know that it’s the bureaucrats in the House that attempted a coup by trying to target the Speaker’s office, hoping to displace and overthrow duly elected officials for control of the legislature,” Plocher told reporters in April.

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