By Kimberly McMillian
Correspondent
DAYTON, Tenn. — A pay dispute lawsuit against the Rhea County Election Commission has a trial date set for Feb. 16 in Chancery Court in Dayton.
In August 2009, former Administrator of Elections Brenda Dodson filed a lawsuit against the commission seeking “back pay, compensatory damages and other damages in the amount of $500,000,” according to an e-mailed copy of the lawsuit provided by Nashville attorney John R. Clemmons, who represents Dodson.
The lawsuit states that Dodson served as the administrator from June 2007 until March 2009.
The suit states that after the November 2008 election, she asked former election commissioners Tom Taylor and Gary Drinkard repeatedly if she could lose her job because of the political change in the Tennessee General Assembly.
In early 2009, she was advised “to look for other employment” by Taylor and Drinkard, the suit states. In March, Taylor told her he’d been directed at a Nashville meeting “to terminate Ms. Dodson,” according to the lawsuit,
Dodson, a Democrat, resigned in March after it was publicly stated “that being a Republican was a requirement for the position,” according to Chattanooga Times Free Press archives.
Taylor, now chairman of the Rhea County Election Commission, said, “I think [the allegations] are false. It’s [the lawsuit] unfortunate.”
Drinkard could not be reached for comment.
In her lawsuit, Dodson claims that the decision to fire her wasn’t made publicly, which violates the state’s open meetings law.
In July 2009, Ms. Dodson and several other fired elections administrators in Tennessee filed a separate lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Nashville, archives show.
Clemmons said the federal action deals more with a “grand scheme” to replace other administrators across the state because of their party affiliation.
Clemmons said the federal case is against each election commissioner as “individual capacities.” The trial is set for July 5 in Nashville.
Archives state that current Rhea County Elections Administrator Theresa Snyder was dismissed in 2007 for no announced reason, but many expressed concern that it was because she was a Republican. Snyder was rehired in June 2009 after Dodson resigned.
Kimberly McMillian is based in Rhea County. Contact her at kdj424@bellsouth.net.