Former Sebastian County Circuit Clerk Ken Blevins filed a lawsuit against County Judge David Hudson last week, accusing Hudson of causing him to lose his bid for re-election last year to fellow Republican Denora Coomer.
In the complaint filed on July 24, Blevins claims that the county's former grievance policy, which included a hearing before a grievance board, was illegal and used to undermine his bid for re-election following the accusations of six employees that Blevins sexually harassed them in the workplace. Two of the employees were terminated by Blevins on Nov. 16, 2011, though the employees were eventually reinstated following grievance hearings with the county.
"The illegal grievance processes supervised by the Defendant, Hudson, as well as the Motion to Enforce the County Court Order of Hudson, were all used to undermine public confidence in the Plaintiff and to replace the Plaintiff in his duly-elected position, either by recall or in an election."
The grievance board Blevins refers to in the lawsuit is no longer in use by the county. Instead, the county has implemented a new policy that states terminated employees may submit grievances directly to the director of human resources, Steve Hotz.
When the new policy went into affect in June, Hudson was asked whether the Blevins situation played into the decision to make the change.
"We've been working on the revision that was in process when Ken Blevins was the circuit clerk. This review was initiated prior to all of those issues arising in the circuit clerk's office," he said. "This is not a reaction to that. This preceded that matter."
The lawsuit filed by Blevins claims loss of employment, in addition to legal costs and emotional distress, as damages incurred due to the process.
Blevins is seeking "compensation for his damages against the Defendant in the amount in excess of that required for diversity jurisdiction in federal court, punitive damages in an amount sufficient to punish the Defendants and to deter the Defendants and others from similar conduct, for a jury trial, for costs, interest, attorney fees, and for all other relief to which he is entitled."