Weeks after Whitley County Judge-Executive Pat White Jr. hired a new county road supervisor, he is again looking to replace a department supervisor, but this time for something less than alleged criminal conduct.
About 8 a.m. Monday, White terminated Angela Matney from her position as 911 Supervisor. On Tuesday, he also terminated 911 Shift Supervisor Teresa Warren.
White said that "urgent action" was warranted due to the nature and gravity of the matters, which included verbal abuse of dispatchers and inappropriate nicknames given to them.
White said that about a week and a half ago, issues were brought to his attention regarding alleged violations of rules and regulations of the Whitley County Personnel Policy.
"Dispatchers had been led to believe by management that the judge-executive would not take kindly to complaints; however, due to the way issues were recently handled at the road department, trust for the judge-executive grew among them," White said in a press release. "Dispatchers have been coming forward with employee personnel issues to be addressed immediately by the Judge-Executive and the 911 Board."
During a brief telephone interview Tuesday evening, Matney denied the allegations.
Matney said that the allegations were made by four to five dispatchers, who were upset and that other dispatchers would say differently.
"I’ve never mistreated my people," she said adding that she loves and cares for her employees "like family."
"The truth is going to come out in the near future that is really all I can say on the advice of counsel," she said late Tuesday evening.
Issues being dealt with in the 911 investigation included unprofessional, demeaning, insulting and intimidating "nicknames" assigned to employees by management or used by management referring to an individual’s dress or body, including names referring to weight issues of employees, etc, according to the press release.
"Dispatchers were referred to and called these unprofessional, demeaning and insulting ‘nicknames’ to their face, behind their back to others and expected to answer to the same as if it were their names," White said in the release.
"Documented unprofessional, demeaning, insulting and intimidating inter-office e-mails that contain profanity and abusive language delivered between dispatchers from supervisor/management were plentiful. Several dispatchers indicated that the supervisor would use a Whitley County 911 assistant director to deliver these type of messages that she did not want the blame for."
White said that several dispatchers have described offensive conduct and abusive language in the workplace. A documented recording of a shift supervisor was riddled with profanity and was confrontational in nature. It alludes to the fact that she would not send help to an officer of the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department if he needed it.
Interviews to investigate these matters have been conducted by White and 911 Board Chair Jerry Rains, and other staff of the Judge-Executive’s office in order to gather information and make a determination of fact, according to the press release.
"Most dispatchers were interviewed at different places and times with identical or similar stories. However, the interviews ceased when 911 management allegedly told dispatchers to not answer phone calls from the Judge-Executive late last week," White said in the release.
Over the weekend, White learned that dispatchers who came forward were led to believe they would lose their jobs.
"It is due to these threats that urgent action was prompted. Action began immediately upon this information being brought forward to the judge and the 911 Board," White said in the release.
"Employees of the Whitley County Fiscal Court are expected to maintain a productive work environment that is free from harassing or disruptive activity. No form of harassment will be tolerated. Employees are expected at all times to conduct themselves in a positive manner – treating fellow employees and constituents with respect.
"Threatening or intimidating fellow employees is prohibited. Any employee who violates these rules and regulations shall be subjected to discipline."
A copy of the Whitley County Personnel Policy can be obtained at the Whitley County Judge-Executive’s Office.
White said that the county would advertise for applications for a new 911 supervisor for 30 days, and that he hoped to name a replacement before the end of next month.
"There will be an interview process similar to what we did with the road department," he said.
Until a replacement is named, White has been working a great deal at the 911 center, and getting assistance from one of the assistance managers there.
The 911 advisory board members have assisted with some of the interviews of the 911 dispatchers during the internal investigation, White said.
The Whitley County 911 Advisory Board is made up of Corbin Police Chief David Campbell, Williamsburg Police Chief Wayne Bird, Whitley County Sheriff Lawrence Hodge, and a representative from the Kentucky State Police.
White said that since KSP Detective Colan Harrell’s retirement last year, his vacancy hasn’t been filled, which has created problems getting quorums to conduct the 911 advisory board meetings.
White said that there will be a similar management system as before at 911 when the new supervisor is named, but that there will be one difference.
"One of the things we are going to have in the advertisement is that whoever is the replacement has to be a certified police officer or have the ability to do a recertification program and bring back their certification as an officer," White said.
"They would be trained in both aspects of the job. This gives the director some more authority under some of the technicalities in the KRS statutes if he is a certified officer. We would still keep our 911 board as an advisory board to that office."
This isn’t the first firing that White has had to deal with during his first three plus years in office.
White hired Truman Prewitt as the county’s new road supervisor last month, and he started work about two weeks ago, replacing Jerry Davis. At the time Prewitt was hired, White said official paperwork hadn’t been completed to terminate Davis’ employment.
Davis was suspended without pay less than an hour after being arrested in December by Kentucky State Police for allegedly twice selling marijuana to an undercover police officer while at the county garage, and then allegedly sending a family member to intimidate the informant that turned him in.
Charges are still pending against Davis, and a preliminary hearing in his case is scheduled for late next month.
During White’s first year in office, one other high profile employee was arrested. Former Emergency Management Director Jerry Powers was arrested for allegedly stealing copper from an accident scene.
Powers was initially suspended by the fiscal court, and terminated from his employment about seven months after the incident.
