A former Lincoln County employee is suing Eureka Judge Stormy Langston, alleging that she wrongfully fired and spread mistruths about her.
The lawsuit, filed in district court on behalf of Chrystal Stacy on June 29, lists both Langston and Lincoln County as defendants. It states Langston fired Stacy without proper authority on May 17, 2011.
Langston was elected as Lincoln County Justice of the Peace in 2006 and re-elected in 2010. She also serves as a Eureka city court judge.
Asked about the allegations, Langston said she had not seen the lawsuit and until then wouldn’t comment on it.
Stacy was hired on Aug. 27, 2007 and worked about 32 hours a week, according to court documents. In 2010, there was a disagreement between Stacy and co-worker Bonita Cook. Stacy’s attorney, Santana Kortum, said Cook created a hostile work environment that included name calling and yelling. Stacy asked Langston to address the problem in August 2010, but after multiple requests, according to the plaintiff, nothing changed and Stacy took sick leave and vacation time to avoid Cook.
The following month, Stacy again asked Langston to address the work place situation and, although all three women met to discuss the issues, nothing was resolved.
In March 2011, the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners recommended that Stacy be placed on administrative leave. Stacy’s attorney said that constituted retaliation on the part of the county.
On May 17, Langston fired Stacy for allegedly falsifying time cards in November 2010. Langston, however, did not have the authority to fire Stacy and the commissioners maintained that she was still employed. On June 28, the commissioners asked Stacy to return to work.
“There was no way Chrystal could return because the workplace was hostile,” Kortum said.
Langston then began accepting applications to replace her. According to court documents, Langston also made “false and maligning” statements to the Tobacco Valley News about the situation.
Kortum said the complainant was filed in district court this summer to preserve the statue of limitations and that she would request that Langston and the county be served sometime in September. She added that both parties were aware of the lawsuit. The attorney said her client was seeking lost wages and benefits, as well as retribution for the damaging comments made about her in the newspaper.