A Leflore County Department of Human Services worker who alleged false imprisonment on the job isn’t giving up on her lawsuit.
Emma Bell filed noticed in Leflore County Circuit Court Friday that she’s appealing to the Mississippi Supreme Court.
Circuit Judge Richard Smith had dismissed the lawsuit on May 24.
The suit alleges that Dynetha Thornton, executive director of the Leflore County Department of Human Services, falsely imprisoned Bell in 2010 by refusing to open a door after Bell accidentally became locked inside a foyer.
Bell’s attorney, James Littleton of Greenwood, said Monday that Smith didn’t allow him to conduct discovery — where attorneys get information known by the other side and witnesses before a trial. Littleton said it’s the first time that’s happened in his 15 years of practicing law.
He said the other side’s argument was to get an expeditious ruling on issues of law without spending a lot of money on discovery.
“We disagree with the ruling, and we will seek to have the Supreme Court to look at it,” Littleton said.
Littleton had filed a motion for Smith to recuse himself, but Smith denied it at the same time as he granted the motion for summary judgment dismissing the lawsuit.
Littleton said Bell has 20 or 21 years as a loyal employee of DHS. She’s responsible for recovering illegally obtained food stamp benefits, he said.
On the evening of Aug. 31, 2010, Bell exited through some inside doors into a lobby, but the outside doors were locked. When she tried to go back through the inside door, she couldn’t re-enter because the door is protected by a pass code. Thornton discovered Bell inside but didn’t immediately unlock the door. The two women had a history of conflict.
Bell pulled the fire alarm, leading to police and firefighters coming to the scene. Eventually another employee let Bell out.
An internal DHS investigation found that Bell wasn’t falsely imprisoned because her being locked inside “was, at most, accidental.” However, it said Thornton appeared to not have been honest with an investigator by claiming she didn’t know it was Bell who was trapped.
Smith found that the Department of Human Services is immune from liability because it’s a state agency and that Thornton was also immune because she was working in her job at the time. The judge said no law or policy required Thornton to open the door.
Littleton, though, said he knows it was Thornton’s duty to open it
The attorney for DHS and Thornton, Lonnie Bailey of Greenwood, declined comment.
• Contact Charlie Smith at 581-7235 or csmith@gwcommonwealth.com.
