The fired former director of the Greenwood-Leflore Emergency Management Agency has filed a federal lawsuit over his dismissal.
In the suit, Troy Brown Sr., who was dismissed from the position by the Leflore County Board of Supervisors Feb. 24, claims that his termination came as a result of his criticism of Chancery Clerk Sam Abraham and was in violation of his First Amendment rights.
The suit, filed Wednesday in federal court in Greenville, asks that Brown be reinstated and also requests actual damages for lost income as well as mental anxiety and stress caused by his dismissal.
Brown clashed repeatedly with Abraham and accused the chancery clerk of interfering in his department and overstepping his authority, including in two op-ed columns published in the Commonwealth.
In a Feb. 16 op-ed, Brown wrote that Abraham was trying to engineer Brown’s firing and replacement. Brown went on to claim that Abraham “believes from the depth of his heart that he runs Leflore County and everyone in it and that he knows best. No matter what expertise you bring to the table, unless it meets the agenda of the ‘Book of Sam,’ it is wrong.”
Thursday, Abraham said he hadn’t yet seen a copy of the complaint and declined to speak about the accusations but said, “I feel comfortable that the county will prevail in the lawsuit.”
In the complaint, Brown’s attorney, Jim Waide of Tupelo, wrote that Brown in the Feb. 16 article “made statements protected by the First Amendment criticizing the degree to which Abraham controls county affairs.”
The suit goes on to quote comments made by Board of Supervisors President Wayne Self to the Commonwealth shortly after Brown’s termination in which Self indicated that taking complaints to the newspaper factored into the decision to dismiss Brown.
““Running to the paper, that hurt me tremendously,” Self said at the time. “If you’ve got a problem with one of the county employees, your job is to go to your immediate supervisor, which is Sheriff (Ricky) Banks. He didn’t go to him.”
This morning, Self said he didn’t recall making comments to that effect and denied that Brown’s criticism of Abraham had played a role in the board’s decision to fire Brown.
“Whatever his situation was with Abraham, that was between him and Abraham, but his termination had nothing to do with that,” Self said. “That has nothing to do with it. It’s just time to move on. I have nothing bad to say about the man — he’s a nice guy — but some things we’re just not cut out for.”
Waide wrote a letter to the Board of Supervisors in April seeking a settlement over Brown’s termination.
The federal lawsuit has been assigned to Judge Debra M. Brown. No date has yet been set for a preliminary hearing.
Waide represented Brown in another legal fight over Brown’s dismissal from Mississippi Valley State University, where Brown had served as dean of students before he was dismissed in 1999. The firing came in the midst of Brown’s candidacy for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.
The unsuccessful lawsuit named then-MVSU President Lester C. Newman and Kevin Rolle, former vice president for student affairs, as well as Abraham’s brother, Greenwood attorney Lee Abraham. In it, Brown claimed he was fired for refusing to concede the Democratic primary to Amy Tuck.
Evidence in the case centered around recorded telephone conversations. In one of them, Newman mentions “the Abrahams,” telling Brown that they had raised issues about “how are you running and you're still employed at the university.”
• Contact Bryn Stole at 581-7235 or bstole@gwcommonwealth.com.
Troy Brown's complaint
