Woman sues county over being terminated

A Denton County woman has sued the county, alleging wrongful termination.

Jennifer Worley filed a lawsuit April 30 in the Sherman Division of the Eastern District of Texas against Denton County, citing First Amendment retaliation in her firing.

According to the complaint, on Nov. 10, 2014, Worley, formerly a health specialist in the Denton County Sheriff's Department's Correctional Health Department, was subpoenaed to testify at a Civil Service Commission termination appeal for another county worker, Margaret Kolden, who had just been fired by Worley's supervisor, Doug Sanders, the jail's health administrator.

At the hearing, the suit states, "Worley testified that, in her opinion, Kolden had not acted in a deceptive, dishonest or fraudulent manner and that she would have done the same thing as Kolden in a similar situation." Kolden was reinstated, according to the lawsuit, and Worley was retaliated against.

The suit says promises of a promotion were dropped, Worley wasn't scheduled for work for a full week, and, when she returned to work Nov. 19, 2014, she was terminated.

Worley seeks: denied wages; pre- and post-judgment interest; compensatory damages for future pecuniary losses, pain and suffering, inconvenience and anguish; an injunction to keep Sanders from committing any other unlawful employment practices; declaratory relief; and attorney fees and costs. She is represented by attorneys Eric P. Dama and Rob Wiley of the Law Firm of Robert J. Wiley in Dallas.

Sherman Division of the Eastern District of Texas case number: 4:15-cv-00294