Federal government sues Montana company ASI Industrial over whistleblower

The federal labor department is suing a Montana contractor for what it says was the wrongful firing of a whistleblower.

The Billings Gazette reports the lawsuit was recently filed in U.S. District Court in Montana against Agri-Systems, a Billings-based general contracting company that does business as ASI Industrial.

The lawsuit says ASI fired electrical engineer Steve Petry in February 2018 after he announced plans to alert Illinois authorities to safety concerns about a feed mill project there.