Lansing: Ex-Ingham County employee sues over voice test

LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- A former Ingham County employee is suing the county clerk saying she was wrongly accused of making a phone call implying an extramarital affair, illegally forced to take a voice recognition test and then told to resign. Nicole Anderson sued Clerk Mike Bryanton in Ingham County Circuit Court last week. The lawsuit says Bryanton violated a state law that prohibits employers from administering polygraph tests. It says the voice test uses instruments to verify Anderson's truthfulness, and thus was the same as a polygraph. The suit also says the married Bryanton promoted a woman with whom he was romantically involved to a high-level position in the office. That employee, Janie Lee, 34, was promoted in July from deputy clerk to chief deputy/elections coordinator and saw her salary increase by nearly $30,000. Bryanton, 65, denies having a romantic relationship with Lee and says the salary increase came as a result of a reorganization that saved the county tens of thousands of dollars. "There's no inappropriate relationship between Janie Lee and myself," he told the Lansing State Journal, noting the reorganization was approved by county commissioners and salaries are set by the county's human resources department. Lee told the newspaper that Bryanton is a mentor and compared their relationship to one between a father and daughter. Anderson, a former deputy clerk, said she resigned under pressure after being accused of leaving a voice mail message for Lee's boyfriend in January that said: "There might be more to your girlfriend Janie's relationship with her boss." Anderson denies she was responsible for the message. The State Journal reports the voice test was conducted over the telephone by an out-of-town analyst and found that Anderson's voice matched the person who made the call. Anderson then was told to resign or be fired. She resigned under pressure, the lawsuit says, but then tried to take back her resignation. Jeffrey Ray, Anderson's lawyer, says his client didn't make the call to Lee's boyfriend. Published: Wed, Apr 13, 2011