Hamilton County attorneys pushed back Wednesday on a former Juvenile Court magistrate’s claim that she was fired in 2014 for being gay, saying she never vocalized that concern with colleagues.
“Why didn’t you put that card on the table – the issue of you being gay and them penalizing you?” Hamilton County Attorney Rheubin Taylor asked Elizabeth Gentzler. Wednesday marked Taylor’s first opportunity to question Gentlzer since her $500,000 civil discrimination trial started this week in Chattanooga’s U.S. District Court.
Gentzler, 38, who served as a magistrate from 2011 to 2014, said Juvenile Court Judge Rob Philyaw and his administrator, Sam Mairs, created a hostile work environment by singling her out, excluding her from events, demoting her and later firing her without explanation.
Elizabeth Gentzler, manager of the probation and parole unit for sex offenders with the Tennessee Department of Corrections, speaks to the Chattanooga City Council.
Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Rob Philyaw denies motions to dismiss charges against Ooltewah High School faculty in failing to report student abuse.But Taylor chipped away at those claims Wednesday, asking Gentlzer how she knew she was being discriminated against and telling jurors that magistrates work at “the pleasure of the judge” in Tennessee. There was never any guarantee Judge Philyaw would keep her on board, Taylor said.
“You do know today that he did not have to give you a reason [for not re-appointing you],” Taylor said.