Courts - Mississippi Fed appeals court won't dismiss ex-jailers' suit

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- A federal appeals court has refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by three former DeSoto County Sheriff's Department workers who alleged they were wrongfully fired for reporting the beating of an inmate by another employee. The lawsuit was filed in 2005 in U.S. District Court in Oxford. It was dismissed in 2007 by U.S. District Judge W. Allen Pepper Jr. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans reinstated the lawsuit in 2008. In 2009, Pepper declined to dismiss the case and DeSoto County appealed to the 5th Circuit. A three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit on Wednesday sided with Pepper. The plaintiffs -- Tammy Williams of Hernando, Earl Russell of Coldwater and Cheryl Hambrick of Southaven -- alleged in their lawsuit that they witnessed the beating of a prisoner in handcuffs. The plaintiffs made out reports detailing the alleged beating and less than 24 hours later they were fired for baseless and frivolous reasons, according to the lawsuit. Named as defendants were then-Sheriff James A. Riley and two deputies. As it had in 2008, the 5th Circuit panel said Wednesday there were factual issues in the lawsuit that should be heard, such as whether the plaintiffs' reporting of the incident was part of their official duties. The sheriff's department claimed that part of the plaintiffs' job duty was to report unlawful activity of other officers. The panel said the job description did not conclusively direct the plaintiffs to report any illegal activity they witnessed. Published: Fri, Jul 30, 2010

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