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SOUTHEAST TEXAS RECORD

Saturday, November 2, 2024

Tyler Co. fires sheriff's office employee over Facebook post, lawsuit claims violation of First Amendment

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LUFKIN – An East Texas county and its sheriff are accused of terminating a female employee over a social media post.

According to Ashleigh Hicks’s federal lawsuit, Tyler County and Sheriff Bryan Weatherford fired Hicks for posting a Facebook conversation between her and her ex-husband, sheriff’s deputy Keith Andrew Bloom, regarding Bloom’s purported failure to comply with court ordered child support obligations as well as the safety and welfare of a child.

Court papers filed on Dec. 18 also fault Weatherford for having the Texas Rangers investigate Hicks for allegedly hacking into Broom’s Facebook account. According to the complaint, the investigation determined that Hicks engaged in no wrongdoing.

She further alleges that she was ordered to scrub the post, to which she complied. The defendants later fired her because she had “embarrassed” the sheriff’s department, the original petition says.

Hicks believes her First Amendment rights were violated.

“As a result of the defendants’ conduct, Hicks was terminated for engaging in public speech relating to a matter of public concern in violation of the rights guaranteed to her by U.S. Const. amend. I,” the suit says.

Consequently, the plaintiff seeks unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.

She is represented by attorneys Melissa Moore and Curt Hesse of the law firm Moore & Associates in Houston.

Lufkin Division of the Eastern District of Texas Case No. 9:17-CV-0210

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