A judge has dismissed three of the five counts in a lawsuit by Jefferson County Assessor Gloria Tillman and her daughter Morgan against County Judge Gerald Robinson.
William “Randy” Wright, the special judge in the Second Division of the 11th West Circuit, wrote in his order filed Tuesday morning he found Robinson was entitled to qualified immunity in Count I, which alleged breach of contract, and Count II, which alleged conversion. Qualified immunity, Wright explained, shields government officials from liability for civil damages while performing discretionary functions, as long as their conduct does not violate “clearly established statutory and constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.”
About 400 Jefferson County employees were not paid as scheduled April 30 but instead a day later, the impetus for the original lawsuit plaintiff attorney Luther Sutter filed at the time. Robinson has disputed the legality of Morgan Tillman’s employment within the assessor’s office and that former assessor Yvonne Humphrey, who worked in Gloria Tillman’s office, should not be paid for 675 hours of sick leave, thus ordering Morgan Tillman’s and Humphrey’s checks be withheld before the April 30 pay date. Humphrey retired April 15, the day of her 48th anniversary in county government, and was to be paid $2,449.13 for 112.5 hours of sick time and $3,265.50 for 150 hours of vacation at the time of her retirement, according to a copy of a payroll authorization Robinson provided.
Robinson issued a court order April 26 to reduce the amount of a payroll affidavit by $4,866.65 — including $3,850.71 for Humphrey and $1,015.94 for Morgan Tillman.
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Robinson in April claimed Humphrey lost most of those hours after she left as an employee in the assessor’s office before her election as assessor in 2010. She served in the role through 2022, when Gloria Tillman was elected, and returned to serve in Gloria Tillman’s office.
“My actions were legal and I was doing my job in a legal manner,” Robinson said. “They should have followed the court order and held out the two people who were not being paid legally. It was not me that caused the employees to not get paid. I did my job, and it’s not my fault the other employees did not get paid. If the court order had been followed, the pay issue would have never happened.”
County Clerk Shawndra Taggart said in an April 30 town-hall meeting that Robinson had not submitted an approved payroll claim by the end of the work week before the scheduled pay date.
“I don’t have the authority to process if not signed. So, I did my job,” Taggart told the audience. “I’m sorry. I want to be paid like the other employees, but it’s out of my hands.”
Most county employees walked off their jobs until about noon the next day, when Robinson approved payment.
Wright also dismissed Count V, in which Morgan Tillman claimed a 2003 ordinance against nepotism in hiring practices was not violated. Gloria Tillman has stated Morgan does not work directly under her.
“Morgan Tillman needs to be released, and taxpayers should be paid back,” Robinson said Tuesday. “That is to say, her salary should be paid back. I feel as though that should have already happened. I sent a letter to the prosecuting attorney’s office in regard to this. With the court decision to dismiss the claim, I feel like the actions of recouping and recovering should go as follows.”
Wright allowed Count III of illegal exaction and Count IV of deprivation of property without due process to stand, citing allegations in an amended complaint filed July 1, when the first hearing in the case took place. Morgan Tillman was added as a plaintiff in the amended complaint.
It was alleged in the third count Robinson failed to pay the plaintiffs and class — certification of class-action status is pending — wages on the date they were due and took the money with due process, resulting in taking without just compensation in violation of Article 22 of the Arkansas Constitution.
Count IV alleges Robinson paid lawyer fees without proper authorization from the Quorum Court but refused to pay attorneys defending the Quorum Court in another case.
In that count, Robinson is also accused of directing the county treasurer to withdraw $198,981.74 in order to pay bills without appropriate approval from the Quorum Court; spending money with Reynolds Construction and landscaping services without proper authorization and without seeking bids; incurring “several hundred thousand dollars in bills in excess of his budget without Quorum Court approval and without seeking bids” (using an example of having three buildings constructed for “around” $14 million without bids); authorizing $70,000 for cleaning services that did not take place and purchasing 25 cell phones for non-county employees, for which the county allegedly paid service bills; paying wages due and vendors in a timely manner despite a court order, causing a waste of public money; incurring upward of $300,000 in attorney’s fees and costs from the defendant’s own and opposing counsels; and failing to obtain an appraisal before selling county equipment, in violation of state law.
Defense attorney Casey Castleberry told Wright on Aug. 21 the plaintiffs may refile or argue that count.
A message seeking comment was left for Sutter.