SANDPOINT — The former director of the Priest Lake Library is suing for wrongful termination, according to 1st District Court records.

Counsel for Bonner County resident Beverly A. Richmond contends his client was fired in violation of the Idaho Protection of Employees Act after she communicated in good faith, and with a reasonable basis in fact, violations of the state’s open meeting law and the library’s personnel policy, according to a complaint for damages filed on Tuesday.

Richmond was hired as the library’s director in 2011 and over the years helped fatten the library’s budget from $85,000 to $250,000 through a successful levy campaign. Richmond further contends that she increased the number of volumes on the library’s shelves from 10,000 to 14,000 and boosted the facility’s internet bandwidth by 110 percent, according to the suit.

“For nearly nine years, Beverly was the ideal library director,” Coeur d’Alene attorney Douglas Pierce said in the civil complaint.

Richmond was sacked by the board of trustees without cause or due process in September, the suit alleges.

The board contends Richmond was an at-will employee and she was terminated for cause or disciplinary purposes, according to court documents.

“Simply put, a library director serves at the pleasure of the board. The board has the power to hire and fire the director at will,” board Chairwoman Deborah Sudnikovich said in a letter to Pierce.

Sudnikovich adds that Richmond terminated an at-will employee without cause or consultation with the board of trustees and argues that under Richmond’s interpretation of Idaho Code, she herself would have fallen short of conducting a proper termination and exposed herself to liability.

“The board of trustees takes this opportunity to wish Ms. Richmond the best of luck in her future professional pursuits,” Sudnikovich said in the letter.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.