Suit seeks woman's release from DADS registry

GALVESTON - Local resident Gail Morris claims the Transitional Learning Center in Galveston terminated her in response to what she thinks is the Department of Aging and Disability Services's erroneous classification.

According to a lawsuit targeting the DADS, Morris was listed as "banned for life" from working at any of the defendant's facilities because of a 2003 incident in which the plaintiff denies involvement.

Morris worked at TLC from 2004 to 2010.

In 2008, Hurricane Ike made landfall on Galveston Island and destroyed TLC's files, prompting their recreation and the re-verification of the employee misconduct registry.

TLC found Morris's name in the registry and subsequently fired her in February 2010 in accordance to state law, the suit says.

The original petition asserts the DADS "does not have any record to substantiate the finding of misconduct that was the basis for the plaintiff's inclusion on the EMR," stating she was not on duty the day of the event in question and had no contact with the alleged patient during the time in which the unspecified incident was said to have occurred.

Even the Texas Workforce Commission determined that Morris had not engaged in misconduct, the suit says.

Morris adds the respondent has denied her requests for an administrative hearing and has failed to provide an explanation behind the entry of her name.

Consequently, she seeks a declaratory judgment stating she does not meet the criteria for inclusion on the EMR as well as unspecified monetary damages.

Attorney Duana Boswell-Loechel with Lone Star Legal Aid in Galveston is representing the complainant, and Galveston County 405th District Court Judge Wayne Mallia is presiding over the case.

Case No. 12-cv-1934