PENDLETON A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit in which a former Grant County resident claimed he was fired from his job due to political pressure.

The dismissal ended a nearly two-year legal fray for Grant County and Ferguson Surveying and Engineering. Both were sued by R. Chris Maynard after his termination from the engineering company in August 2009.

Maynard had claimed wrongful discharge and violation of his First Amendment rights. His complaint alleged a link between the firing and his involvement in the campaign to recall Judge Mark Webb, an effort that failed at the polls.

Doug Ferguson said this week he was relieved to have the case behind him.

We are grateful that justice was done and the record has been set straight, Ferguson said.

Magistrate Judge Patricia Sullivan issued the ruling, dated March 22, in U.S. District Court in Pendleton.

Sullivan found no evidence to support Maynards claim that the engineering firm bowed to pressure from the county to fire him.

Maynard was laid off by the engineering firm in August 2009. His complaint called the firing retaliation for his political associations and contended that the engineering firm feared losing a county contract.

However, Sullivan found no evidence to show that Fergusons decision to fire Maynard had any link to the county.

One portion of Maynards case hinged on allegations about a conversation between County Roadmaster Mark Hensley and company owner Doug Ferguson, shortly after Maynard made critical comments about the Webb in a newspaper article and shortly before Maynard was fired.

Maynard contended that the Ferguson firm was pressured not to get involved in the recall or it might jeopardize a county contract.

However, the judge didnt see proof of that.

Aside from what Maynard believes to be the suspicious timing of his termination, the only support for the claim that comes from Maynards recollection of the conversation, she said in her findings.

She also noted that Maynard acknowledged speculating as to the content of the conversation.

Both the county and Ferguson Engineering submitted motions to the court to have the lawsuit dismissed, contending that there were no genuine issues or material facts to support Maynards case.

Court filings indicate that Maynard agreed to the cases dismissal and waived his right to appeal.

The dismissal lays to rest Maynards divisive and utterly unsupported allegations that he was fired under pressure from the county because of his political activity in this community, Ferguson said in a written statement.