BUS DRIVER WINS DRUG SUIT

A federal jury Tuesday awarded a former Moose Lake school bus driver
$120,167 for the humiliation and lost wages he suffered after his
supervisor disclosed private information about the driver's refusal to
take a drug test.

Duane "Dewey" Anderson, 57, said he's never taken drugs in his life.
So he sued in U.S. District Court in Duluth, alleging that in the
process of making the disclosure the Moose Lake School District broke
the law.

Anderson's attorney, Peter Nickitas, had argued that the only way to
repair his client's "shattered reputation" was to make the school
district pay. Apparently, the jury agreed.

The jury reached its verdict Tuesday after a week of testimony before
Judge John Tunheim and five hours of deliberation.

Anderson got $108,000 of the $150,000 Nickitas asked for in damages
for pain, suffering and loss of reputation, plus $10,000 for lost
earnings, according to court papers. Anderson, who said the
accusations caused him mental anguish, received $2,067 in past and
future medical expenses.

However, the jury only assessed the school district $100 in damages
intended to punish or deter future violations.

Anderson was suspended from his job as a bus driver for the Moose Lake
School District in May 1998 when the district said he failed to
provide enough urine for a drug test and refused to take a second test.

Anderson had testified that he provided a sufficient sample. Taking a
second test would be like admitting that he failed the first test, he
said.

But the school district said federal regulations maintain that a test
refusal is equivalent to the driver testing positive. The testing lab
later determined that Anderson provided enough urine and there was no
trace of drugs in his body.

A witness testified that Moose Lake schools transportation supervisor
Art Forse told him in public that Anderson refused to take a drug
test. Forse denied saying that.

The jury decided that the school district, through Forse, violated the
Minnesota Government Data Practices Act and thus was responsible for
Anderson's claims.

Jury foreman Darrell Wil-liamson, of Pine City, said that was the
main factor in the jury's decision.

"We believed that if they wouldn't have made that disclosure public,
then his name wouldn't have been dragged through the mud," Williamson
said.

Anderson and his wife, Dianne, testified the repeated harassment they
received in the community after the disclosure forced them to leave
Moose Lake and move to Forsyth, Mo.

Anderson declined comment when reached by phone Tuesday.

John O'Donnell, the attorney representing the school district, said
they are deciding whether to appeal.

O'Donnell said the disclosure never happened and the claim was solely
based on one unreliable witness's testimony.

Williamson disputed that assertion, saying several witnesses made it
"kind of a proven fact."

O'Donnell also told jurors that Anderson only sued the district
because the family farm had failed.

The school district is self-insured as a member of a trust with
districts across the state, O'Donnell said. Ultimately, the awarded
money will come from instructional dollars, he said.