SALEM — A former employee has filed notice he intends to sue the Oregon Lottery for retaliating against him for blowing the whistle on the agency’s leadership for questionable management practices.

Trinh Tran, a former lottery procurement officer, resigned from the agency in October, several weeks after then-acting Lottery Director Barry Pack took disciplinary steps against him, according to a tort claim notice filed Dec. 6.

Tran claims the disciplinary action came after he reported issues concerning Jack Roberts, who at the time Tran filed his report was director of the lottery.

Tran alleged that Pack pursued disciplinary action against him despite an internal investigation of Tran that found “no evidence of inappropriate conduct or violations of policy.” The investigation, initiated by Pack in May, alleged that Tran engaged in “intimidating” and “belittling” behavior toward his colleagues.

“In short, any purported concern with Mr. Tran’s ‘management style’ was a pretext for an investigation that was simply and blatantly a witch hunt in retaliation for Mr. Tran’s raising and escalating his concerns about official misconduct,” the tort claim states.

The Oregon Lottery had no comment on the pending litigation, said Joanie Stevens-Schwenger, a lottery spokeswoman.

Tran’s allegations are similar to those of Roland Iparraguirre, deputy director of the Oregon State Lottery. Iparraguirre resigned Aug. 31, the same day the tort claim says Pack placed Tran on a disciplinary plan.

“Mr. Iparraguirre’s placement on administrative leave was a blatant act of retaliation for whistleblowing by former Director Roberts,” wrote Loren Collins, Iparraguirre’s former attorney, in a letter to state officials. The letter requested that the state officials reinstate Iparraguirre to his job.

Collins said Tuesday, Dec. 20, he is no longer representing Iparraguirre and had no comment on Tran’s claim.

Tran and Iparraguirre both played roles in the April 26 termination of Roberts, a former state labor commissioner and Republican gubernatorial candidate, as lottery director.

In March, Tran expressed concerns to Lottery Commissioner Liz Carle about “what he saw as Roberts’ “mismanagement and abuse of authority,” according to Tran’s tort claim.

The disclosure came as Carle was reaching out to lottery employees for information about Roberts’ management practices, the claim states.

Roberts was at odds with Commissioners Carle and Mary Wheat over Roberts’ hiring of Farshad Allahdadi as interim assistant director for sales and retail services. Roberts requested on April 18 that the Governor’s Office order an investigation into his claim that the commissioners were creating a hostile work environment for Allahdadi, based on his national origin.

An independent investigation by Kyle Abraham of Barran Liebman LLP found ommissioners had expressed concerns about an anonymous email alleging that Allahdadi had engaged in questionable procurement and contracting practices in the past. The investigation found no evidence of discrimination against Allahdadi for his national origin.

On April 18, Tran and Iparraguirre also went to Gov. Brown’s adviser, Heidi Moawad, to report their concerns about Roberts, according to an April 26 email by Moawad.

“They believe he was being punitive toward employees he could ‘prove’ were talking with (lottery) commissioners,” Moawad wrote.

Roberts placed Iparraguirre on paid administrative leave April 25 after Roberts claimed Iparraguirre had a verbal altercation with a subordinate, Janell Simmons, a human resources director at the lottery.

Brown terminated Roberts the following day and appointed Pack as interim director. Pack was confirmed by the Oregon Senate Dec. 12 to serve as the agency’s permanent director.