Story highlights 17-year Navy veteran claims mistreatment at work due to his wife's role in the Flint water crisis

Walters' 5-year-old twin boys are suffering from lead poisoning

(CNN) Lee Anne Walters and her family were the first in Flint, Michigan, to discover that there were astronomically high levels of lead in the water and alert the Environmental Protection Agency. But the family now says her criticism and advocacy during the water crisis has been met with workplace retaliation and harassment against her husband, a sailor with the US Navy.

"We're still recovering from Flint. We never thought we'd be in this position again," Walters said, explaining that she is afraid her husband is in danger of losing his job. "We are afraid now for our livelihoods."

Dennis Walters, a 17-year Navy veteran, has filed a complaint claiming mistreatment at work due to his wife's role in the Flint water crisis.

In a complaint filed last week, Dennis Walters claims that he has been repeatedly mistreated at the Sewells Point Police Precinct, which is part of Naval Station Norfolk, because his wife has been so outspoken. He claims that the pattern of harassment began in March after she testified in Congress.

"Since I testified at the state Senate hearing, things got progressively worse," Lee Anne Walters said. "They threatened to force him into a hardship discharge if he didn't get me under control."

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