A federal judge has allowed to move forward several of the claims in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Eric Payne, a former top contracting official who worked for the D.C. chief financial officer.

Payne claims in his lawsuit that he was fired in January 2009 after accusing Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi of interfering with the city's $40 million lottery contract. He says Gandhi told him to consider specific companies, which Payne said violated city law. Gandhi has denied Payne's claim.

The judge allowed Payne's whistleblower suit to move forward, but found no evidence of fraud that Payne alleged in his complaint. The ruling also said that Gandhi is protected by D.C. law from personal liability.