After investigation, top MO House Republican now faces scathing whistleblower lawsuit

A top Missouri House employee on Friday filed a scathing whistleblower lawsuit alleging that House Speaker Dean Plocher and his chief of staff Rod Jetton retaliated against her after she reported an onslaught of policy violations and wastes of public money.

The lawsuit was filed in Cole County by Dana Miller, chief clerk of the House since 2018 and an employee for more than 23 years. Plocher, a Republican from the St. Louis area, Jetton, a former House speaker himself, and the Missouri House are named as defendants.

Despite efforts from Plocher and Jetton, the lawsuit states, Miller remained employed with the House and also “maintained her opposition to the abuse of authority, violations of policies, rules and laws, mismanagement and wasteful program to which Defendant Plocher and Jetton pursued to the detriment of good Missouri government.”

Miller’s suit paints a damning portrait, showing the lengths that Plocher and Jetton went to allegedly threaten and retaliate against Miller and other House staffers amid a slew of scandals Plocher faced in his final session as speaker that resulted in a months-long ethics investigation.

It also includes fresh details about the scandals themselves, including allegations that Plocher, who is running for secretary of state, may have pushed for the House to issue an expensive technology contract in order to receive a “large campaign donation” when he was previously running for lieutenant governor.

Miller’s lawsuit asks a judge to find that Plocher and Jetton violated her rights and block them from further retaliation or threats. It also asks for damages for emotional pain and suffering as well as compensatory and liquidated damages.

The lawsuit comes roughly a month after the Missouri House Ethics Committee dismissed a complaint of ethical misconduct against Plocher in a tense and chaotic meeting. While the complaint was dismissed, the committee’s chair has alleged that Plocher and his supporters obstructed the investigation and intimidated witnesses.

“We have a culture of fear now in that building with the staff that work there,” Miller told reporters at a news conference in Jefferson City on Friday. “It’s time for me to speak up and say something.”

‘Large campaign donation.’

Miller, as chief clerk, serves as the top nonpartisan staffer in the Missouri House, overseeing all administrative duties.

The lawsuit details how her relationship with Plocher began cordially when in 2021 he was first chosen by his Republican colleagues to serve as House speaker starting in 2023. That relationship soon soured.

In May 2022, Miller met with Plocher after receiving complaints about his treatment of some of his female Republican colleagues. Plocher, according to the lawsuit, was dismissive of those concerns and referred to the women who complained as “invasive species.”

“Stupid Republican women...they are an invasive species,” Plocher allegedly told Miller, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit details concerns among House staffers, and some lawmakers, in 2023 about Plocher’s push for the House to issue a roughly $800,000 technology contract to an outside company to handle constituent information.

The proposed contract concerned a constituent management service called Fireside, a subsidiary of Washington, D.C.-based FiscalNote. The powerful lobbying firm Bardgett and Associates previously represented the company, which represents a lengthy list of high-profile clients including Anheuser-Busch, Evergy, the Jackson County Sports Complex Authority, and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Plocher told Miller that his assistant had been working directly with John Bardgett, a lobbyist for the firm, according to the lawsuit.

Miller was concerned about the contract because of its price and redundancy. The House had just recently revamped its in-house constituent management service. She grew concerned when Plocher connected the purchase of the new software to campaign activity, the lawsuit said.

“Speaker Plocher dismissed Plaintiff’s remarks and instead responded, ‘We need to

get this program [Fireside] up and going before the next campaign cycle kicks in,’” the lawsuit said.

At several points in the lawsuit, Miller alleges that Rep. Dale Wright, a Farmington Republican who oversees internal spending in the chamber, told her that he was concerned Plocher was pushing for the contract in order to receive a “large campaign donation” from Bardgett.

As the push for the contract ramped up, Miller’s lawsuit alleges that she began to hear about threats to her employment due to her resistance to the contract.

For example, on Aug. 18, 2023, Wright allegedly told Miller that Plocher “said he ‘would take it to a vote’ to remove her as chief clerk based upon her opposition to Fireside.”

The House Administration and Accounts Committee, chaired by Wright, ultimately decided in September to stick with the current software.

Government reimbursements

The lawsuit also details how Plocher received nearly $4,000 in government reimbursements for travel expenses already paid by his campaign, a revelation that was a central focus of the ethics investigation.

Before Plocher’s illegal reimbursements became public, the lawsuit shows how House staff tried to reject several of Plocher’s reimbursements. He pushed back and asked for exemptions to House policies.

In October 2023, Plocher fired his previous chief of staff, Kenny Ross. Plocher’s campaign consultant told Ross that he was fired because he “didn’t stop ‘Danagate’” — a nod to Miller’s resistance to the Fireside contract, according to the lawsuit.

Miller reported Plocher’s firing of Ross to the Ethics Committee after she became concerned that Ross was protected as a whistleblower. Shortly after she testified to the committee, Rep. Chris Sander, a Lone Jack Republican, filed a formal ethics complaint against Plocher that resulted in the months-long investigation.

Roughly a month later, Plocher hired Jetton to serve as his new chief of staff. The lawsuit describes how Miller and other House staff began to fear that Jetton was hired to “clean house” and remove Miller from her position.

At one point, Jetton allegedly told another employee that “that they needed to ‘choke’” Miller’s authority and “made a physical choking gesture with both hands as he made this statement.”

Miller grew concerned about this interaction due to Jetton’s prior abusive behavior. Jetton previously served as House speaker from 2005 to 2009. After leaving office, he was charged with felony assault from a 2009 sexual encounter where he choked a woman to the point of unconsciousness. He later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of misdemeanor assault.

Around this time, according to the lawsuit, rumors began circulating around the Capitol that several House staffers could be fired. Plocher ultimately fired Erica Choinka, his legislative director, in January 2023.

Rumors also began circulating that Lori Hughes, the House director of administration, could also be fired. In March, Hughes sent a memo to Rep. Hannah Kelly, a Mountain Grove Republican who chairs the Ethics Committee, detailing her fears about retaliation against House employees.

“In my over 21 years of state government service, I have never witnessed or even been involved in such a hostile work environment that is so horrible that I am living in fear every day of losing my job,” Hughes said in the letter.

Despite the onslaught of concerns regarding the alleged obstruction of the investigation, the House Ethics Committee last month voted to dismiss the complaint of ethical misconduct against Plocher.

The lawsuit argues that Plocher and Jetton retaliated against Miller due to her resistance to numerous violations of policy and abuse of power.

“These actions taken by Defendants were done in response to Plaintiff questioning the legitimacy of a purchase that far exceeded the proper use of public dollars, violation of campaign laws and regulations, violations of House rules and policies and in opposition to Defendants’ abuse of power and authority and mismanagement,” the lawsuit said.