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Highlands Today

County Employees Fired For Messages File Federal Lawsuit

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By JIM KONKOY

Highlands Today

Published: January 17, 2009

SEBRING - Three Highlands County employees fired last January for "inappropriate" use of instant messages on their work computers have filed a federal lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed by attorney James McCollum, claims county officials violated their right to privacy and conducted "unreasonable searches and seizures" by retrieving and releasing their instant messages.

Plaintiffs are Treasa Handley, former coordinator of non-ad valorem tax assessments, Jared Lee, former budget analyst, and Christine Edwards, former budget technician. All three worked in the county's Office of Budget and Management.

Named as defendants in the suit, filed in U.S. District Court, Southern Division, in Fort Pierce, are the board of county commissioners, L.E. "Luke" Brooker, former Highlands County Clerk of Courts, and Mary E. Wilson, former director of internal compliance and audit in the clerk's office.

The lawsuit does not specifically seek reinstatement of Handley, Lee and Edwards to their former county jobs. It does, however, ask the court "to prohibit the use of such disclosed information (instant messages) as the basis for disciplinary proceedings which were initiated" by county officials.

Without the instant messages, there would have been no basis for disciplinary action.

The lawsuit also seeks damages "in an amount to exceed $50,000" for each plaintiff.

Bernis Gainer, director of OMB, fired Handley, Lee and Edwards in late January, 2008, after reviewing hundreds of instant messages, turned over to county officials by the clerk of courts internal compliance and audit staff.

At that time, Bob Jameson, then senior director of business services in the clerk's office, described hundreds of instant messages between Handley, Lee and Edwards as personal rather than for county business, and said many were "sexually explicit in nature."

A county policy does not allow use of county e-mail or instant messaging for personal messages, according to John Minor, county director of human resources.

Carl Cool, then the county administrator, eliminated instant messaging on county computers several days before the three OMB employees were dismissed, after reviewing hundreds of instant messages compiled by the clerk of court's audit staff.

Following the firings, 11 other county employees were disciplined for "inappropriate use" of instant messaging, but none were dismissed or suspended. In those cases, disciplinary actions ranged from verbal warnings and written reprimands to a counseling session on legitimate uses of their work computers.

In the lawsuit, McCollum claims the instant messages were "private and privileged communications between and among plaintiffs" that were "wrongfully disclosed" by clerk of courts staff to county officials.

The lawsuit claims that the instant messages were "illegally disclosed" because they were released without the employees' consent, the messages were obtained without a search warrant or a subpoena, and were not retrieved in the course of a criminal investigation.

According to the lawsuit, retrieval of and disclosure of the instant messages violated the Federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act, a similar state law, and federal and state privacy rights.

When the firings were announced, Jameson said the instant messages in question were discovered accidentally, during a routine audit of the 9-1-1 emergency call system. In checking expenditures, he said, the audit staff discovered thousands of personal instant messages.

Handley, Lee and Edwards filed grievances to overturn their dismissals. In August, county Administrator Michael Wright rejected the appeals.

Wright's ruling said that after hearing the former employees' appeals "as well as having reviewed the instant messages ... I find no compelling reason to reinstate the three former employees."

Highlands Today reporter Jim Konkoly can be reached at 863-386-5855 or e-mail jkonkoly@highlandstoday.com

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