Steel Processor Beats Covid-19 Whistleblowing Lawsuit at Trial

SPS Companies Inc. defeated a lawsuit by an employee who said he was fired for blowing the whistle on the steel processor’s misappropriation of confidential worker health data in its Covid-19 response plan, a Missouri federal judge ruled after trial.

SPS had a legitimate business reason for its July 2020 decision to offer Micah Morrison severance or a reduced role, including Morrison’s difficulties in completing a major project and his employees’ complaints about his responsiveness, Judge Gary A. Fenner of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri said Tuesday. Morrison’s March 2020 complaint about the company’s proposed ...