Two Fyffe, Ala., police officers claim in a lawsuit filed in DeKalb County Circuit Court that town Mayor Katy Woodall has waged a yearlong campaign to defame and abuse them out of a job.
Court records show that police officers Brian Warren and Anthony Majusiak -- two of Fyffe Police Department's four full-time officers -- are seeking unspecified punitive and exemplary damages from the town of Fyffe and Woodall for using "smear tactics" that caused "irreparable harm to their reputations and careers."
The suit characterizes Woodall's actions as an effort "to discredit, undermine, and ultimately cause the dismissal of the plaintiff(s)." Woodall made "false, malicious and slanderous statements to a published newspaper" about the two officers that caused them "loss of reputation, shame, mortification and loss of public trust," the suit states.
The suit filed last Wednesday by Fort Payne, Ala., attorney Jeff McCurdy was followed on Friday by Woodall's placing both officers on administrative leave with pay. Officials said a notice from the plaintiff's side regarding a request for a due process hearing for the two officers may be pending.
Ben Benton is a news reporter at the Chattanooga Times Free Press. He covers Southeast Tennessee and previously covered North Georgia education. Ben has worked at the Times Free Press since November 2005, first covering Bledsoe and Sequatchie counties and later adding Marion, Grundy and other counties in the northern and western edges of the region to his coverage. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Tenn., a graduate of Bradley Central High School. Benton ...
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