2 workers sue Gorham tech manufacturer, claiming it broke defense secrecy laws, then retaliated
Courtesy / Microwave Techniques LLC
Microwave Techniques is based at an industrial park in Gorham.
A Maine high-tech manufacturer contracting with the Defense Department, Microwave Techniques LLC, routinely flouted national security rules and fired two employees last year for reporting the violations, a lawsuit filed Monday in Portland federal court alleges.
Brent and Kathleen Hinson, a husband and wife who both had worked for the Gorham-based company since 2017, repeatedly accused it of testing DoD equipment with classified, secret information a company lab had no authorization to use.
After the Hinsons explained their concerns to management — and eventually federal investigators — Microwave Techniques ended the couple’s employment in March 2021. Their suit claims the firing was retaliation for speaking out and violated federal and state whistleblower laws. The Hinsons are seeking unspecified damages.
Microwave Techniques in a statement Tuesday denied any merit to the Hinsons’ claims and told Mainebiz the lawsuit was “an employment matter.”
Frequent frequency faultings
While the Microwave Techniques lab in Gorham didn’t have security clearance to use the secret information, another company lab, in Nashua, N.H., did.
The Information System Security Clearance, which is specific to a facility, allowed Microwave Techniques to enter “lucrative contracts” with the DoD for making radio frequency equipment.
However, a manager in Gorham, Donald Paul Jr., repeatedly tested the equipment there in order to save time and expense, the suit claims.
The 22-page complaint also says the Gorham lab used a testing analyzer for “unclassified” information and displayed secret radio frequencies before as many as 60 workers who didn’t have the necessary authorization.
“If the secret frequencies Paul used to test the units fell into the hands of an enemy, they could use it to jam communications and missile defense systems,” the complaint reads.
The Hinsons, both Navy veterans, called out the testing “in order to address the violations of law and to eliminate the threat to the health and safety of service members and others that could result from the illegal testing.”
Beginning in May 2020, Brent Hinson made a report to Paul and then others as the illegal testing continued, the complaint says. They included a facility security officer in Gorham, Paul Alton, as well as then-CEO Peter Tibbets. Hinson later submitted multiple reports to the DoD and FBI.
By February 2021, the suit claims, Kathleen Hinson had also observed the testing, and Paul had begun unspecified “harassment” of both Hinsons. Kathleen reported Paul’s actions and the testing practice to Microwave Techniques’ human resources director, Diana Wilson.
The improper testing increased and eventually took place on a weekly basis, the plaintiffs say. In February 2021, both employees received written warnings about taking long breaks and other conduct at work, which the couple denied.
The dispute escalated until a confrontation the following month between Kathleen Hinson and Paul.
Paul allegedly “said that he knew plaintiffs were the ones who reported him to the DoD and FBI and that he knew he was being investigated. He was screaming and swearing. He said plaintiffs needed to stop calling HR. He said that HR was not going to protect the plaintiffs from him.”
Both Brent and Kathleen Hinson were fired four days later.
Following their termination, the Hinsons complained to the Maine Human Rights Commission, which last week issued a notice allowing them to sue under state law protecting whistleblowers.
The complaint doesn't explain any outcome from the DoD and FBI reports, and doesn't seek prosecution for those alleged violations.
Instead, an attorney for the Hinsons, Chad Hansen, said, “We believe that the treatment of the plaintiffs violated state and federal whistleblower laws and look forward to enforcing these anti-retaliation laws.”
Microwave Techniques was formed in 2020 from the merger of Mega Industries, a Gorham manufacturer of high-power microwave components, and Ferrite Microwave Technologies of Nashua, N.H. The Hinsons originally worked for Ferrite before accepting jobs in Gorham.
Mega Industries was founded in Portland in 1989 and acquired by a local private equity firm, Anania & Associates Investment Co., in 2000.
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