Punitive Damages

By Michael Broihier Judge Executive R. W. "Buckwheat" Gilbert and County Treasurer Teresa Padgett were served papers Tuesday in a second set of legal action claiming the two made defamatory statements about a former county employee. Audrey Gayle Young, who'd worked at the courthouse for four years before her dismissal, said in a complaint that Gilbert and Padgett, "intentionally, wantonly, willfully and maliciously communicated false and defamatory statements," about her. Young's complaint charges that the pair told various third parties that she had stolen money from the Fiscal Court, a charge Gilbert flatly denies.

LEXINGTON - The Kentucky Court of Appeals reduced a $3.5-million damage award against two central Kentucky school officials after a school board fired a principal who had a loaded gun in her car. The court ruled 3-0 on Friday that Fayette County Board of Education officials had probable cause to try to fire former Leestown Middle School principal Melinda Lewis Cobb in 1999. The court threw out $2 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in combined punitive damages in an abuse- of-administrative proceedings claim against former superintendent Peter Flynn and former director of middle schools Russell Behanan.

STANFORD - Removing an election sign for Walt Maguire, candidate for family court judge, sparked what ended up being a drunken-driving charge for businessman Tommy Owens. He is scheduled to appear at 1 p.m. Monday in Lincoln District Court. On Oct. 19, Kim Perry, an affiliate with Concerned Citizens for a Better Family Court, a group against the re-election of current Judge Debra Lambert, planted a Maguire sign near the First Southern National Bank branch on U.S. 27. She told The Interior Journal she waited as Owens took the sign, then snapped a photograph.

A Danville High School student and his mother have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Danville and its police department, alleging that two officers roughed up the student at a football game last year because he was black. The lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Lexington, seeks $1.3 million in compensatory and punitive damages. It was filed by Frankfort attorney Willie E. Peale Jr. on behalf of DHS sophomore Ikia Daugherty and his mother, Mary Daugherty of Danville.

A former Danville city commissioner is suing the city and two employees, alleging they caused him to lose his job because of his plans to run for judge-executive. Ryan Owens claims in the lawsuit filed in Boyle Circuit Court that City Manager Paul Stansbury and Engineer Earl Coffey had conversations with Owens’ employer, Bell Engineering, last fall in an effort to get Owens fired. “In October or November 2009, Stansbury and Coffey, on behalf of the city of Danville, and by agreement between themselves, contacted Bell Engineering to demand plaintiff’s discharge because defendants believed plaintiff planned to stand for election as Boyle County judge-executive in 2010,” the lawsuit states.

The mother of a girl who lost a leg in a Jet Ski collision this summer on Herrington Lake has filed a lawsuit seeking damages from the man operating the boat that struck her daughter. Laura Otte of Lexington filed the complaint earlier this month in Boyle Circuit Court on behalf of herself and her daughter, Alex, who was 13 when she was struck by the boat and its propellor on July 2. The lawsuit alleges Sammy Jason Hackler of Salvisa was intoxicated when his boat ran over Alex as she was sitting on her Jet Ski near her father’s boat dock near Bryant’s Camp Marina.

HARRODSBURG - Two former Modine employees have filed a lawsuit against the company alleging they were wrongly fired and then slandered by top brass at the plant in front of co-workers. Phillip C. Russell of Danville and Henry E. Smith of Harrodsburg filed the claim last week in Mercer Circuit Court naming Modine Manufacturing Co., plant manager John Foutch and human resources director Pam Hoots as defendants. According to the lawsuit, Smith and Russell were called in from their job stations and fired on Jan. 15, 2008.

A Jessamine County social worker filed a lawsuit in Fayette County Circuit Court Tuesday claiming her superiors retaliated against her because of her involvement in a state investigation of alleged misconduct. Jami Hall, a social services clinician, claims that since spring, her supervisor, Melanie Taylor, has created a difficult work environment by falsifying documents, violating cabinet policies and using tactics such as placing past due notices on Hall's office door for the office co-workers to see, according to court documents.

LIBERTY ? A former employee of McDonald's in Liberty has filed a lawsuit against the restaurant and its owner alleging wrongful termination, discrimination and invasion of privacy. Karen May of Liberty filed the complaint earlier this month in Casey Circuit Court. It alleges May was wrongfully fired from her McDonald's job in July for having an undisclosed medical condition that prevented her from being around food. Unnamed employees of McDonald's, which is owned by Mark Prater of Lawrenceburg, also breached May's privacy by announcing to other employees at a meeting that May was sick and had been terminated, the lawsuit states.

LIBERTY - A lawsuit filed against a local automobile dealership and a salesman has been dismissed, according to records in Circuit Clerk Craig Overstreet's office. Beverly Cochran, 11 Scherrer Road, Liberty, filed the lawsuit in August against Bob Allen Motors and John Welsh, Liberty, and Robert E. Allen, of 725 N. Maple Ave., Danville, claiming gender discrimination, sexual harassment and wrongful discharge. Cochran was working with Bob Allen Motors on Wallace Wilkinson Boulevard when Welsh was named general manager and she was promoted from a sales position to finance and insurance manager in 2004.

A lawsuit against the city of Danville and one of its police officers has been moved to federal court at the request of the defendants. John Kinley of 120 Bold Venture filed a complaint last month in Boyle Circuit Court alleging Officer Pedro Lemos harassed and falsely arrested him during a dispute in the parking lot of an apartment complex in 2011, in violation of his constitutional and civil rights. The lawsuit also claims the city failed to properly train Lemos. The defendants have not yet responded to allegations made in the complaint, but have transferred the case successfully from Boyle Circuit Court to U.S. District Court in Lexington, arguing the lawsuit raises issues involving the U.S. Constitution and Civil Rights Act of 1964, which are matters of federal jurisdiction.

LANCASTER - A Garrard County company has filed a lawsuit alleging that its former plant manager breached his loyality to the company by enriching himself at the company's expense. Mine Shield LLC filed the complaint recently in Garrard Circuit Court alleging that Calvin Hays, as plant manager, exercised control over certain vendors and contractors that were not in the best interest of the company, but instead benefitted another company, Chinqaupin Enterprises LLC, that Hays was involved with.

A former Danville city commissioner is suing the city and two employees, alleging they caused him to lose his job because of his plans to run for judge-executive. Ryan Owens claims in the lawsuit filed in Boyle Circuit Court that City Manager Paul Stansbury and Engineer Earl Coffey had conversations with Owens’ employer, Bell Engineering, last fall in an effort to get Owens fired. “In October or November 2009, Stansbury and Coffey, on behalf of the city of Danville, and by agreement between themselves, contacted Bell Engineering to demand plaintiff’s discharge because defendants believed plaintiff planned to stand for election as Boyle County judge-executive in 2010,” the lawsuit states.

The mother of a girl who lost a leg in a Jet Ski collision this summer on Herrington Lake has filed a lawsuit seeking damages from the man operating the boat that struck her daughter. Laura Otte of Lexington filed the complaint earlier this month in Boyle Circuit Court on behalf of herself and her daughter, Alex, who was 13 when she was struck by the boat and its propellor on July 2. The lawsuit alleges Sammy Jason Hackler of Salvisa was intoxicated when his boat ran over Alex as she was sitting on her Jet Ski near her father’s boat dock near Bryant’s Camp Marina.

LIBERTY ? A former employee of McDonald's in Liberty has filed a lawsuit against the restaurant and its owner alleging wrongful termination, discrimination and invasion of privacy. Karen May of Liberty filed the complaint earlier this month in Casey Circuit Court. It alleges May was wrongfully fired from her McDonald's job in July for having an undisclosed medical condition that prevented her from being around food. Unnamed employees of McDonald's, which is owned by Mark Prater of Lawrenceburg, also breached May's privacy by announcing to other employees at a meeting that May was sick and had been terminated, the lawsuit states.

In May, The Interior Journal reported that Gayle Young, a former county courthouse employee, had filed suit against then Judge Executive Buckwheat Gilbert and County Treasurer Teresa Padgett. That case was dismissed last Tuesday. Young, who'd worked at the courthouse for four years before her dismissal, said in her complaint that Gilbert and Padgett, "intentionally, wantonly, willfully and maliciously communicated false and defamatory statements," about her. Young's complaint charged that the pair told various third parties that she had stolen money from the Fiscal Court.

HARRODSBURG ? A Harrodsburg couple who have been thwarted in their efforts to curtail activities at a neighborhood bed and breakfast are trying a different tactic by making a federal case of their complaints. Curry and Leslie Dedman, who live on Beaumont Avenue next door to Aspen Hall Manor, filed a federal lawsuit last month against Harrodsburg officials alleging the city has failed to enforce existing laws and ordinances. Since Aspen Hall opened in 2005, the Dedmans have maintained that weddings, receptions and other special events held there have shattered the tranquility of their neighborhood.

By Michael Broihier Judge Executive R. W. "Buckwheat" Gilbert and County Treasurer Teresa Padgett were served papers Tuesday in a second set of legal action claiming the two made defamatory statements about a former county employee. Audrey Gayle Young, who'd worked at the courthouse for four years before her dismissal, said in a complaint that Gilbert and Padgett, "intentionally, wantonly, willfully and maliciously communicated false and defamatory statements," about her. Young's complaint charges that the pair told various third parties that she had stolen money from the Fiscal Court, a charge Gilbert flatly denies.

HARRODSBURG - Two former Modine employees have filed a lawsuit against the company alleging they were wrongly fired and then slandered by top brass at the plant in front of co-workers. Phillip C. Russell of Danville and Henry E. Smith of Harrodsburg filed the claim last week in Mercer Circuit Court naming Modine Manufacturing Co., plant manager John Foutch and human resources director Pam Hoots as defendants. According to the lawsuit, Smith and Russell were called in from their job stations and fired on Jan. 15, 2008.

LANCASTER - Garrard County has paid $2.1 million to the estate of a Parksville man killed in a fiery car crash involving former Emergency Management Director Dwayne Nave. The settlement, reached in September, came as the result of mediation with the attorney for Donna Moore, the ex-wife of Williard Quinn, who burned up in his vehicle following the April 2007 crash on U.S. 27 near Bryantsville. Moore filed the lawsuit on behalf of Quinn's son, Justin, who is a juvenile. Nave was driving a county-owned SUV and tests showed he had a blood-alcohol content of .12 percent - above the .08 level the state considers legally drunk - when the crash occurred.