Two state employees who feel the CEO of their agency had it in for them are looking to get their jobs back now that their boss has been fired.

But the attorneys for James Long and Todd Flanagan said neither man was contacted by North Dakota's Workforce Safety and Insurance agency after Sandy Blunt was let go Thursday.

"I hope to hear from them (soon)," Mike Geiermann, the attorney for Flanagan, said.

Long's attorney, Tom Tuntland, also said he hadn't received any communication from WSI. Both attorneys said their clients were improperly punished for cooperating with law-enforcement officials during an investigation into Blunt and special investigations director Romi Leingang. Charges that Blunt and Leingang illegally used confidential information and misspent agency funds were dropped in October.

Long and Flanagan feared retribution, they said, which prompted them to file for protection under the state's Public Employees Relations Act.

Flanagan, a special investigator for WSI, was fired Wednesday. Long, chief of support services at the agency, was put on paid leave in November.

Their attorneys say the state's "whistleblower protection" statute should have shielded the men from retribution. The day before he was let go as CEO, Blunt said he didn't think Flanagan's firing was a violation of the statute. Tim Wahlin, an attorney at WSI, also concluded in a report to Blunt that Long's whistleblower claims were "disingenuous." Blunt and other WSIofficials have repeatedly denied further comment on personnel matters.

At a board meeting Thursday, Wahlin again declined to answer specific questions on whistleblower actions because the cases are personnel issues that are still under investigation.

"There have been a number of different allegations that have been made," Wahlin said. He said investigators were still trying to find out more information about the allegations.

Board member Terry Curl asked Wahlin to explain why Flanagan was seeking protection. He added that Blunt was given a nine-month severance package when he was let go, and Flanagan wasn't offered such a deal.

"We let a guy go this morning, and it's Christmas, and we gave him nine months," Curl said. "We let a guy go yesterday, and it's Christmas, and we gave him nothing."

Mark Jackson, another board member, clarified that Flanagan may have been let go for disciplinary reasons, while Blunt was not.

Wahlin would not clarify why Flanagan was fired, saying it was a personnel issue.

An open records request for Flanagan's file is still pending.

Officials have not explained why they suspended Long, although Wahlin's report to Blunt, dated Nov. 28, called Long's accusations unfounded and his attempts at gaining job protection disingenuous.

The attorneys for Long and Flanagan have requested that the people responsible for their removal from WSI be investigated and, if warranted, prosecuted. Violation of the whistleblower statute is a Class B misdemeanor.