CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Sharpsburg faces police discrimination lawsuit

Wilson Daily Times - 12/8/2018

Dec. 08--SHARPSBURG -- A former police lieutenant is suing the town of Sharpsburg in federal court, claiming ex-Police Chief John Hunt discriminated against her and fired her due to a disability.

Lynette Clements, who is now chief of police in Whitakers, filed an amended complaint Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina after initiating the lawsuit Nov. 28. Clements claims the town committed discrimination on the basis of sex and race, unlawfully retaliated against her when she complained and violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The lawsuit seeks an $85,000 jury award along with interest and attorneys' fees.

Clements' termination paperwork claims she was fired for mishandling evidence in criminal cases, which could have jeopardized prosecution.

Clements was hired in 2014 and was the only African-American woman in the Sharpsburg Police Department, according to the suit. When Hunt was named police chief, Clements claims she "was treated differently than the white males under his supervision."

Hunt, who is also African-American, was fired in June after town commissioners said he retaliated against Sharpsburg officers following a May 21 traffic stop. The town of Bailey hired Hunt as a part-time police officer on Nov. 19.

UNEQUAL TREATMENT?

In her lawsuit, Clements alleges Hunt stripped her of supervisory and administrative duties, allowed a sergeant to call her a "bitch" with no repercussions, took away her assigned police car, suspended her for three days without pay "for allegedly listening to inappropriate music in her assigned vehicle" and required her to submit to a medical evaluation without cause.

Clements was placed on administrative leave in September 2017 and filed a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In a second EEOC charge of discrimination filed in May, Clements alleges her January 2018 dismissal from the police department was retaliation for the first complaint.

The EEOC issued Clements a right-to-sue letter on Aug. 29.

Clements alleges that once he became police chief, "Hunt has discharged black employees and replaced them with white employees," according to the suit.

Federal court filings and EEOC documents claim Clements also suffered discrimination due to her disability, but the nature of that disability is not disclosed.

James A. Barnes, an attorney at the Raleigh firm of Oxendine Barnes & Associates, is representing Clements. A docket report shows court officials issued seven notices of deficiency that required modifications or additional paperwork, and the Nov. 28 complaint was re-filed Wednesday and Thursday.

Sharpsburg Town Attorney Brian Pridgen of the Wilson firm Cauley Pridgen, P.A., is listed as counsel for the defendant.

U.S. District Judge Louise Wood Flanagan is presiding over the case.

TOWN: EVIDENCE MISHANDLED

Pridgen said Sharpsburg town officials are aware of Clements' filings but have not formally been served with the suit.

"The town of Sharpsburg maintains that Ms. Clements' claims are without merit and that her termination from the town was solely attributable to her performance as a police officer," Pridgen wrote in an email to The Wilson Times.

A copy of Clements' termination letter, which Pridgen provided in accordance with state public records laws, states that she was dismissed for failing to deliver evidence to the State Bureau of Investigation for testing in a timely manner and for failing to properly document the chain of custody for evidence in Sharpsburg police cases.

"Handling and custody of evidence are primary duties of your position," Hunt wrote in the dismissal letter signed Jan. 11. "Your actions/inactions have jeopardized numerous investigations and will likely impact prosecution of the cases in criminal court. These failures to properly follow normal law enforcement protocol regarding handling of evidence is unacceptable and fall short of town expectations regarding its employees. For these and other issues discovered regarding your performance as an officer, your employment with the town of Sharpsburg has been terminated effective January 11, 2018."

A town disciplinary form included with the letter states that Clements' actions "were not appropriate under the circumstances and were not consistent with this department policy."

Sharpsburg's termination letter and disciplinary form do not specify the dates of the alleged evidence mishandling incidents. On Clements' EEOC complaint filed this May, she alleges the evidence delivery occurred about eight months before she was fired.

"Through my attorney, I was informed that I was discharged for failing to take evidence to the SBI lab on time -- which would have been back in May 2017," Clements wrote.

TWO LAWSUITS SETTLED

The town of Sharpsburg has been sued in U.S. District Court six times since April 2002, according to court records, and attorneys for the town have settled two discrimination lawsuits involving its police department this year.

Shanna Marie Etheridge's claim against the town was dismissed with prejudice on March 23 following a notice of settlement filed in January. Another suit brought by Mahmoud Omar Zughbi and Katheryn Lynn Zughbi was dismissed Sept. 20 after an Aug. 23 judge's order acknowledged that the parties had reached a settlement.

Etheridge, a former administrative assistant for the Sharpsburg Police Department, had claimed she endured sexual harassment and racial discrimination on the job and that her pay was reduced and she was later fired without cause.

Mahmoud Zughbi alleged that police commanders disciplined and demoted him because he is a Jordanian Muslim, causing him to resign in fear of termination.

The terms of those settlements and the amount of any cash awards the plaintiffs may have received are not specified in court filings. Attorneys and liability insurance carriers for municipal governments often negotiate confidential settlement agreements on behalf of a city or town that's been sued.

Settlements do not indicate an admission of wrongdoing, as about 95 percent of all federal lawsuits are settled out of court.

___

(c)2018 The Wilson Daily Times (Wilson, N.C.)

Visit The Wilson Daily Times (Wilson, N.C.) at www.wilsontimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Nationwide News