Lamborn court filing takes aim at former staffer in civil suit
The key witness for Brandon Pope, a former staffer suing U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn for alleged workplace retaliation, called for Pope’s dismissal in an email to office leaders, court papers in the case allege.
Josh Hosler, another former Lamborn staffer who Pope cites as a key witness backing his claims, wrote up Pope for violating office policies and insubordination, according to evidence filed by Lamborn’s House attorneys.
“Since midsummer, Brandon’s temperament has been very abrasive and he is no longer willing to take direction from anyone. This has caused several issues of belligerency towards management with unprofessional verbiage and disrespectful responses,” Hosler wrote in an email to Lamborn’s chief of staff, Dale Anderson, according to records filed in federal court.
Pope was a military staffer who worked in Colorado Springs under Hosler, then Lamborn’s district director.
Pope in court papers claimed he was pushed out of Lamborn’s office after complaining about the congressman’s lax approach toward the pandemic. To back his claims, Pope cited Hosler as a key witness.
The civil suit includes claims that Lamborn flouted mask recommendations and negligently exposed staff members to the risks of coronavirus.
“… Lamborn had a reckless and dangerous approach to COVID-19 and he retaliated against Mr. Pope for seeking to protect employees from unsafe conditions in the workplace,” Pope’s suit claims.
Lamborn’s camp has said Pope quit rather than being fired for failure to meet standards.
The email, written by Hosler in response to an Anderson request for documentation to back up Pope’s possible termination, appears to back Lamborn’s claims.
“I have had to restrict Brandon from answering the phones several times, because of his temper and his unprofessionalism while on the phone with constituents,” Hosler wrote. “This has caused unfair extra work for the other staff.”
The email was introduced with a Lamborn filing asking for the case to be moved from federal court in Washington, D.C., to Colorado. The filing asserts that because Pope and Hosler worked in Colorado Springs, the case would be better argued here.
No timeline has been issued for a decision on whether the case will be moved and a hearing schedule for the wider case hasn’t been set.
Rep. Doug Lamborn