By KEVIN YOUNG
The attorney for Barren County Jailer Leland Cox filed a lawsuit on his behalf in Barren Circuit Court on Tuesday. The suit names the county and each of the members of the fiscal court as defendants who have “constructive(ly) discharge(d)” Cox without cause by not paying his salary or benefits since he left his position at the jail.
Attorney Steven Thornton of Bowling Green filed the five-page document at the county clerk’s office that alleges after Cox entered an Alford plea to charges in Barren Circuit Court on March 11, the defendants agreed to accept his resignation from the office of Barren County Jailer effective January 2010. But, it reads, the defendants “constructively removed (Cox) from his position as Barren County Jailer when they discontinued his salary and his health insurance and other benefits.”
The lawsuit asks for punitive damages and immediate restoration of all wages, benefits and privileges Cox would have obtained had the defendants not taken those actions, or “compensation for all lost wages and benefits, as well as lost future wages, and permanent impairment of his ability to earn money in the future.”
It also asks that Cox be awarded damages “in compensation for the emotional distress, humiliation and embarrassment (Cox) suffered as a direct and proximate result of the acts of the defendants.”
Thornton said the actual dollar amount his client is seeking will be determined by the court.
“Ultimately the amount will be determined by the court, but he is certainly entitled to his salary and benefits owed to him. When we entered into the negotiations we were trying to find a way to resolve it without a lawsuit, but we just weren’t satisfied,” he said.
Thornton said the defendants have no legal standing to stop paying Cox, and he has tried to negotiate a deal with the county that would have prevented a lawsuit.
“We tried to find a way to solve the issue without a lawsuit,” he said. “Believe me the very last thing Leland Cox wanted is to be back in court. I just really want to emphasize that we didn’t have to file this lawsuit. Leland’s served a very long time and is proud of his career. What happened over a few months should not overshadow a long government career.”
Cox took an Alford plea to charges of touching the breasts of women who worked for him at the jail without their consent.
The lawsuit says the defendants relied upon “inapplicable” Kentucky Revised Statutes to justify their actions. Thornton said the magistrates likely think they are doing the right thing by not paying Cox, but they are not holding their end of the agreement.
“They genuinely believe they are not entitled to pay him,” he said.
But those statutes, KRS 61.040 and 61.170, state that a county officer shall vacate his position after a felony conviction. Due to his Alford plea, Cox did not admit to any crime he simply acknowledged there was enough evidence to convict him, and none of the charges against Cox were a felony.
Judge-Executive Davie Greer said the fiscal court took its action regarding Cox’s pay after hearing from several members of the community.
“The people of Barren County came to the court and said they didn’t want their tax dollars paying his salary, so that’s what we decided to do. They came to us and we voted to do that,” she said.
As previously reported in the Daily Times, Cox entered the Alford plea on March 11 to 30 misdemeanor counts of sexual abuse. The Alford plea allowed Cox to plead guilty based on the prosecution’s evidence and not admit to actually committing the crimes.
Cox was sentenced to 30 days in jail, but the sentence was suspended based upon Cox following certain conditions such as resigning as jailer in January 2010 and not be in direct or indirect contact with any of the victims in his criminal case. All the victims in the case still work at the Barren County Correction Center.
But Thornton said he understands the negative perception that Cox is getting paid for not doing any work.
“I think there really could be a public perception there, that’s a real issue,” he said. “But if the jail were to get sued, the person served would most likely be Leland Cox because he’s the jailer.”
Greer said Cox does not have any authority at the jail even though he retained the title of jailer.
“He voluntarily stepped down and the sheriff has complete charge of the jail now. (Cox) has no authority at the jail and actually cannot go anywhere near the jail by order of the court,” she said.
Thornton said he thought that by not compensating Cox, politics in the county government got in the way of an employment obligation.
“Any time you mix a political set of circumstances with an employment situation you are going to run into some problems, and I understand the political side of it. It just seems to me to be a waste of money other than to pay him. I know that they have already spent a lot of taxpayer money fighting this, so I think it would save the county money in the long run to pay him what is owed instead of fighting it.”
