Two fired Monroe County officers win $200,000 settlement

Monroe County Sheriff's Office Investigator Doug Brannon testifies about a watch owned by Jim Miller that was on his wrist when he was killed during Jessica Kennedy's murder trial Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012, in Monroe County Criminal Court.
Monroe County Sheriff's Office Investigator Doug Brannon testifies about a watch owned by Jim Miller that was on his wrist when he was killed during Jessica Kennedy's murder trial Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012, in Monroe County Criminal Court.

Two Monroe County, Tenn., men who say they were fired from the sheriff's office for political activities have won a $200,000 settlement after a federal jury found in their favor.

Former deputy Doug Brannon and ex-employee Steve Miller sued Sheriff Tommy Jones and Chief Deputy Randy White in early 2015, claiming they were fired for being allies of Bill Bivens, who lost the 2014 sheriff's race.

Brannon and Miller also claimed retaliation for participating in a TBI investigation into alleged vote-buying in the county.

Their attorneys, Scott Tift and David Garrison of Barrett Johnston Martin & Garrison in Nashville, said the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects government employees from being fired for political reasons or for a newly elected official to open up positions for his own supporters.

Jones and White denied the claims, telling the Times Free Press in January 2015 both men were let go for poor performance, including Brannon's failure to assign 136 cases to detectives.

A U.S. District Court jury in Knoxville ruled in favor of Brannon and Miller after a week-long trial, Tift said in a news release Thursday.

He said the jury found both men deserved compensatory damages and Miller should receive punitive damages. He said they decided to settle for $200,000 before punitive damages could be assessed. Of that, the county will pay $125,000 and its insurance carrier will pay $75,000, Tift said.

"We hope the jury's verdict will remind all government officials in Tennessee that once they take on the serious responsibility of serving the public, they must make decisions based on what's good for the public, not what's good for politics," Tift said in the release.

Added Garrison: "No government employee should have to fear that if he supports the wrong candidate, he will lose his job."

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