Five justices of the peace have been named as defendants along with Jefferson County Judge Gerald Robinson in the third amended version of a lawsuit filed by county tax Assessor Gloria Tillman and her daughter Morgan.
Luther Sutter, representing the Tillmans, filed the amendment Thursday evening as he stated during a hearing on the second amended version just hours earlier.
The plaintiffs are also seeking class certification.
Roy Agee, Patricia Royal Johnson, Ted Harden, Jimmy Fisher and Dr. Conley Byrd – the five justices who have often sided with Robinson in the budget stalemate against the majority of the Quorum Court – are now sued for breach of contract, illegal exaction, violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Arkansas Minimum Wage Act, and deprivation of property without Due Process in violation of the Arkansas Civil Rights Act and 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Morgan Tillman is also suing for a declaratory judgment that she is properly employed by Jefferson County. Sutter is also asking for an injunction to petition for redress of grievances.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“Each Defendant is an employer within the meaning of the FLSA and AMWA because each Defendant has the authority to determine all Jefferson County employees’ rate of pay,” the new version reads.
“But for these Defendants’ failure to act, Plaintiffs and the class would be paid.”
Johnathan Powell, an information technology director for the sheriff’s office who’s been outspoken against the delay in pay for hundreds of Jefferson County employees, has been added as a plaintiff.
A written ruling by Special Judge Randy Wright from Thursday’s hearing in the Second Division of 11th West Circuit Court is pending.
The plaintiffs are suing for compensatory and punitive damages exceeding $2 million.
“I have received the third amended complaint and will review it with Judge Robinson and timely respond as ordered by Judge Wright,” Castleberry said.
The defense has 10 days from filing to respond to the amended suit.
A hearing will likely be scheduled by the end of February.
The second version of the suit accused Robinson of breach of contract; illegal exaction; deprivation of property without due process; converting payment the employees were due and taking without just compensation.
In the third version: Count I spells out breach of contract as defendants not being paid wages on the date they were due; Count II accuses the defendants of taking money without just compensation; Count III accuses Robinson of waste by paying lawyer fees but not those for the county, as well as incurring “several hundred thousand dollars in bills in excess of his budget without Quorum Court approval and without seeking bids,” and a misappropriation of more than $1.1 million; Count IV states Morgan Tillman is not directly hired by her mother and the Quorum Court; and Count V accuses the defendants of willfully violating two acts by “failing to promptly pay the Plaintiffs and similarly situated employees a minimum wage for hours worked.”
“As a term of their employment contract, Plaintiffs are participants in a welfare benefit plan that grants them insurance benefits,” according to the suit.
“Defendants have failed to provide Plaintiffs and the Class with insurance benefits in breach of their employment agreement, causing Plaintiffs and the Class to incur medical expenses and premiums.”
The plaintiffs have asked Robinson to place the issue of whether Morgan Tillman is legally employed on a Quorum Court agenda, but each defendant has willfully refused for no legal reason, according to the suit. A dispute over whether Morgan Tillman is legally employed in her mother’s office, which according to Robinson counters a 2003 county ordinance against nepotism, was partially to blame for a delay in payroll last April 30.
Friday was the second missed payroll date in a row for county employees as JPs have tried and failed four times in January to pass a budget.