An administrative law judge ruled in favor of a worker in Alaska who claims he got fired after acting as a whistleblower and reporting safety issues to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). He worked for Bald Mountain Air Service based in Homer, AK.

Judge Scott R. Morris found the company violated whistleblower protections after they fired Brian Bell as a pilot just two days after an unexpected inspection from the FAA which resulted in $67,000 in fines for the company.

Bell had reported that the company violated a number of safety regulations, including falsifying training records and flying with faulty equipment with customers onboard. The complaints prompted the inspection.

The airliner says they plan to appeal the ruling, and that they had planned to fire Mr. Bell before he had reported the issues. A 2016 Occupational Safety and Health Administration report says that the company failed to show “clear and convincing evidence” that it planned to do so but the latest judge’s ruling acknowledged evidence that might support their claim. Still, the ruling said that the timing of his firing violated whistleblower protections.

If their appeal is taken they will ask the board to review the order to pay Bell $500,000 in back pay with interest. They will also have to prove that they did not blacklist Bell after he was fired, as he claims they did.

In addition to the back pay, they were also ordered to pay Bell $10,000 for pain and suffering and to offer him a job as a pilot, they will be required to post whistleblower protections at their facilities and provide training on whistleblower protections to their employees.

Read more here and here.