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[Note: This material is copyright by The Gazette, and is reproduced here as a matter of "fair use" for non-commercial, educational purposes only. Any other use may require the prior approval of The Gazette.]

  Fethke testified in Johnson County District Court that Gilchrist seemed unable to let go of the design she envisioned for the proposed lab, which is under construction on the UI’s Oakdale Campus. She objected to scaling back the building’s design even though plans for the overbudget project included unused space on the building’s first floor, he said.

  ‘‘Her vision was increasingly out of reality with what the design afforded,’’ Fethke said.

  Fethke was called to testify during a hearing in the lawsuit Gilchrist filed against him and Meredith Hay, the UI’s vice president of research. Gilchrist is seeking an injunction ordering her reinstatement to the position she was terminated from in October, while the case is pending in court.

  Gilchrist’s attorney, Pat Ingram of Iowa City, told Judge Denver Dillard that Gilchrist contacted lawmakers and various state officials as a whistle- blower who was trying to warn about public health risks to Iowans entailed in shrinking the lab.

  Gilchrist claims Fethke and Hay tried to block her from contacting public officials.

  Assistant Iowa Attorney General George Carroll, who is representing Fethke and Hay, claimed Gilchrist doesn’t qualify as a whistleblower because she didn’t raise specific health threats and was simply trying to lobby lawmakers for funds for the lab while ignoring standard UI procedures.

  Fethke testified he opted to terminate Gilchrist amid concerns that Gilchrist’s actions, including saying that the Legislature’s $36 million appropriation wasn’t enough, could be putting the entire appropriation and project at risk. He admitted, however, he had not heard concerns to that effect from any lawmakers or state officials.

  Hay, Gilchrist’s supervisor, testified Gilchrist repeatedly ignored requests not to lobby lawmakers for funding for lab projects and the lab expansion without previously clearing those efforts through her. Hay testified Gilchrist worked with lobbyists without her knowledge or approval.

  Jack Cameron, former lab operations director whose last day at the UI was Jan. 4, said Hay told him and Gilchrist to ‘‘basically smile and support the proposed reduced design’’ when the design went to the Regents for approval. Cameron had been on administrative leave since Oct. 3, the same day Gilchrist was fired, until his departure from the UI last month.

  Gilchrist has not taken the stand but is expected to testify Monday, when the case resumes in Johnson County District Court.