EPB calls whistle-blower lawsuit 'frivolous;' labels plaintiff 'disgruntled vendor'

EPB has asked the Hamilton County Circuit Court to dismiss a whistle-blower lawsuit filed by former city lighting contractor Don Lepard, who has claimed that Chattanooga taxpayers are owed more than $10 million in damages for as many as 20 years of overbilling by EPB.

The utility claims that as a city-owned entity under Tennessee law, it cannot be sued on the city's behalf.

"Yet, Lepard is attempting the absurdity of having the city sue itself, for the purpose of personally profiting in the process," the utility said in a news release.

Lepard has accused EPB of charging city governments for streetlights that either didn't exist or were misclassified, then covering up the errors and retaliating against Lepard when he brought it to officials' attention. He is seeking treble damages under the False Claims Act.

EPB has admitted that it misclassified or misplaced thousands of lights for seven years and overbilled taxpayers in the process to the tune of about $1.5 million. However, the utility has introduced disputed interpretations of several TVA recommendations that it says offset the overbilling.

As a whistle-blower, Lepard can gain up to half of any penalty levied against EPB, though his portion would decrease if the city took the lead in the lawsuit. But Chattanooga, like Red Bank and East Ridge, has opted to allow Lepard to foot the legal bills and fight out the matter in court, while reserving the right to intervene later.

EPB called Lepard a "disgruntled vendor, who is improperly seeking to use a legally-defective False Claims Act suit to strike out at EPB, which he blames for the city's decision not to purchase thousands of additional street lights from Plaintiff's company."

The utility is referring to Global Green Lighting, the company Lepard founded that won a contract to supply the city with 26,000 self-metering LED lights. However, the city put that contract on hold after maintenance figures supplied by EPB cast doubt on the reliability and efficiency of Lepard's lights. He only completed the first of three planned phases, though thousands of his lights remain in service under the ownership of the city.

EPB previously has denied Lepard's overbilling claims, until Oct. 1 when the utility admitted publicly that it had overbilled taxpayers.

But the utility downplayed the extent of its overbilling, citing several disputed recommendations from its regulator, TVA, that suggested EPB bill more for its streetlights.

In its motion for dismissal, the utility asked for attorney's fees and called Lepard's lawsuit "precisely the type of case that courts interpreting the Federal False Claims Act have declared to be frivolous."

Contact staff writer Ellis Smith at 423-757-6315 or esmith@timesfreepress.com with tips and documents.

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