EDITORIAL/Bye bye Rudy

A federal judge has ruled Canton Municipal Utilities (CMU) is not liable for damages alleged by their former engineer Rudy Warnock, who is Madison County's former engineer, ending we hope a long, unrelenting nightmare for taxpayers.

U.S. District Judge Halil Suleyman Ozerden handed down his ruling dismissing Warnock's suit, which sought $6.3 million in damages after he claimed CMU unlawfully dismissed him.

Warnock had argued he was owed the money as compensation for three contracts CMU and his company, Warnock Engineering, entered into in October 2016 that were subsequently terminated roughly two months later.

Warnock claimed the board terminated those contracts, which were signed after Warnock presented his "five-point plan" for upgrading Canton's infrastructure, because he had "refused to provide bribes and kickbacks, and consent to the illegal and improper hiring of relatives and friends" demanded by former CMU Board Chairman Cleveland Anderson.

The original filing accused CMU of copyright infringement, vicarious and contributory infringement, wrongful discharge, breach of contract, open account, negligence, defamation, misappropriation of advertising/commercial materials and violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act — commonly known as RICO.

Warnock has a pattern of defrauding Madison County taxpayers. After Madison County fired him, supervisors voted in December 2016 to pay Warnock $550,000 to settle a similar lawsuit.

Finally, Warnock's racket has been exposed by a judge. So, bye bye, Rudy!