HOLLAND, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – Holland city officials are not commenting on a report that a former greenhouse operator is suing the Tulip City for being fired after reporting unsafe work conditions at the city’s Central Avenue greenhouse.
According to M-Live, Shelly DeVries had been with the city for a decade as a greenhouse operator before being sacked last month for what the city called “performance deficiencies and misconduct,” most notably in her dealings with Tulip Time Festival officials. DeVries had emailed the city about glass tiles slipping in the century-old greenhouse, causing water leaks, along with boiler and code maintenance issues. She filed a suit 20 days ago in Ottawa County Circuit Court, seeking damages, lost wages and lost fringe benefits, along with having the city ordered to cooperate with MiOSHA on addressing the greenhouse issues.
The city continues to be in negotiations to sell the greenhouse property off of Central Avenue and 14th Street to the Commons of Evergreen in order to build a new greenhouse at a different site.
