You might say that court is becoming a second home to the Niles Housing Commission.

Another fired commission employee has filed a lawsuit—this time it’s a “Whistleblower” complaint.

“And unfortunately what our lawsuit alleges and we’re going to prove is that my client was fired for cooperating with the government to report violations of the law,” said attorney Eugenie B. Eardley. “It’s a great statute because what it does is, it protects people who report wrongdoing and illegal actions by their employer,” Eardley said.

Michael Smith had been the Maintenance Supervisor for the Niles Housing Commission for about two years, before he was fired in July. This week, Smith fired back by filing the Whistleblower lawsuit. “It shows other people that you don’t have to be afraid to stand up for what’s right,” Smith said.

The lawsuit contends that Smith learned of a co-worker who was “sexually involved with,” and sexually harassing various housing commission tenants.

The lawsuit also asserts that Smith went to a supervisor to discuss the need to discipline or terminate the co-worker.

At that time, according to the lawsuit, Smith was told to “stop these actions, and to not share the information with HUD, as required by law,” meaning the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“The thing that makes it stand out, it’s just so obvious,” said Eardley. “We have a big paper trial, e-mails, and lots of witnesses.”

Representatives with the Niles Housing Commission were contacted but declined comment. All three said that they did not know about the complaint that was filed on Monday in Berrien County.

It was early in 2008 that controversy first landed on the doorstep of the Niles Housing Commission. That’s when attempts were made to evict a 91-year old tenant for allegedly threatening to harm other tenants in the Niles public housing high rise.

In the end, the tenant was allowed to stay—and the man who started the eviction proceedings was fired. The former Director of the Niles Housing Commission, David Martin, has also taken the Niles housing commission to court.

The Niles commission is also feeling the heat from HUD. The year began with that agency submitting a long list of concerns over the way the Niles operation was conducting business.

The latest round of correspondence indicates that HUD’s concerns have not been adequately addressed. In a letter to the Niles Housing Commission from Robert Nelson with the Office of Public Housing in Detroit, Nelson wrote that it was his intent to “prevent the Niles Housing Commission from becoming designated as a “Troubled” agency…” The letter went on to say that a failure to address the outstanding deficiencies would leave HUD “no other alternative.”